BV  110  .P3  1902 

Parker,  Johns  Dempster,  183, 

-1909. 
The  Sabbath  transferred 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 


The 
Sabbath  Transferred 

Rev.  JOHNS  D.  PARKER,  Ph.D. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

Rev.  F.  N.  PELOUBET,  D.D. 

Author  of 
"Notes  on  International  Lessons." 


SECOND  EDITION.  REVISED  AND  ENLARGED 


East  Orange,  New  Jersey 
Johns  D.  Parker  &  Company 

1902 


Copyright,  1900  and  1902,  by  Johns  D.  Parker. 


ROBERT  DRUMMOND,  PRINTER,  NBW   YORK. 


MvycrdrjTL  tyji/  rjfxepav  tcjp  aa^^droiv 
ayia^etz/  ai/nji/. — Fourth  Commandment  in 
the  Septuagint. 


'Oi//e  Se  cra^^droiVj  rfj  iirK^xjiCTKovcrrj  €15 
/Litai'  cra/3^dTa)v,  rj\6e  MapCa  rj  MaySakrjvrjf 
Kol  rj  dXXr)  Mapia  OeajprjcraL  rov  rd^ov. — 
Mat.  28:  I. 


To  ad^/BaTOP  Sua  tov  dvOpoiirov  iyiverOy 
ov\  6  dv6poiTTo<;  Sta  to  a-d/B^arov, — Mark 
2  127. 

Eyevojxrjv  iv  Hveup.aTL  iv  rfj  KvptaKy 
rjyiipcL. — Rev.  i  :  10. 

Ejus  observationem  mos  Christianus  ad 
diem  dominicant  convenienter  transtulit. — 
Alcuin. 


DEDICATION 


TO  ALL  STUDENTS  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES 

WHO  REJOICE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  TRANSFERRED  SABBATH, 

THAT   IN   FULLNESS   OF  TIME 

WILL  SHINE  OVER  THE  WHOLE  WORLD 

TO  ENLIGHTEN  EVERY  HOME  AND  GLADDEN  EVERY  HEART, 

THIS  MONOGRAPH 

IS  PRAYERFULLY  DEDICATED. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Authorities  in  the  Original  Greek  and  Latin,  5 

Dedication,             .         c         .„.,«-  7 

Introduction,      .         .         .         ,         ^         =         ..         ,  IE 

Preface, ,         ,         .  17 

Chapter  I. :     The  Sabbath  a  Movable  Institution,  21 

Chapter  II.:     Evidence  from  the  New  Testament  of  the 

Transfer  of  the  Sabbath,             •         •         •         »         «  37 

Chapter  III. :     Prophecies  Foreshadowing  the  Transfer  of 

the  Sabbath, 60 

Chapter  IV. :     Practice  of  Early  Christians,     .         .         ,  76 

Chapter  V. :     The  Transferred  or  Christian  Sabbath,    .  loi 

Chapter   VI.:      Sabbatarianism    Founded    on    a   False 

Translation,  .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .146 

Addenda :     Personal  Reminiscences,          .         ,         .  208 

Index  and  Analysis, 233 


INTRODUCTION 

TJTAVING  listened  with  no  small  interest 
to  the  reading  of  this  little  book  by 
Chaplain  Parker,  I  heartily  concur  in  the 
main  conclusions,  and  regard  them  as  a 
valuable  contribution  toward  the  final  set- 
tlement of  the  Sabbath  question. 

Many  roads  converge  upon  the  end  he 
is  seeking.  By  many  arguments  he  up- 
holds his  conclusions.  Some  of  these  argu- 
ments '  I  have  not  had  time  to  examine 
thoroughly,  and  some  of  the  ways  I  have 
not  traveled  before  ;  so  that  I  can  neither 
commend  nor  reject  them.  But  there  are 
arguments  enough  to  establish  his  position, 
and  ways  enough  that  are  good  highways 
to  the  Sabbath  City  he  wishes  to  build. 

For  two  reasons  the  question  is  of  no 
II 


INTRODUCTION 

little  importance.  For  some  consciences 
are  troubled  lest  keeping  Sunday  should 
not  be  obedience  to  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment;  while  others  by  separating  the 
Christian  Sabbath  from  the  one  estab- 
lished by  Law  from  Sinai,  feel  a  lessened 
obligation,  and  a  diminished  force  of  duty 
and  privilege,  as  to  keeping  any  Sabbath. 
The  true  settlement  of  the  question  is 
that  established  in  this  volume.  The 
command  in  the  Decalogue  is  to  keep  the 
Sabbath,  the  seventh  day.  But  there  is 
no  established  starting  point  from  which 
to  count.  It  would  not  be  possible  to 
have  the  same  starting  point  for  all  the 
world,  nor  to  be  sure  that  we  are  now 
counting  our  seventh  day  from  the  same 
day  that  the  earliest  men  employed.  Our 
Sunday  is  as  really  a  seventh  day,  as  is 
the  Jewish  Saturday.  And  whosoever 
hallows  the  Sunday,  hallows  the  seventh 

12 


INTRODUCTION 

day  and  keeps  the  commandment.  The 
only  difference  is  the  day  from  which  we 
count.  For  the  Sabbath,  the  seventh  day 
is  an  Institution  ;  something  as  Easter  is 
an  institution.  We  keep  Easter,  whether 
the  day  on  which  it  falls  be  in  April,  or  in 
March,  be  on  the  first  or  the  twentieth 
day  of  the  month. 

The  main  thing  is  to  guard  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Sabbath.  Let  us  keep  one  day 
in  seven  holy.  We  cannot  do  this  unless 
the  great  majority  keep  the  same  day.  A 
learned  man  who  was  naturally  left-handed, 
and  who  had  made  a  study  of  that  subject, 
said  to  me  that  while  some  people  were 
born  left-handed,  and  some  right-handed, 
the  great  majority  could  be  either  with 
equal  ease.  But  as  there  were  more  right- 
handed  people  born  than  left-handed,  every- 
thing was  made  to  suit  them,  so  that  even 

left-handed   people   must  use  their  right 
13 


INTRODUCTION 

hands  most  of  the  time,  or  suffer  great 

inconvenience.     So  it  is  with  the  Sabbath, 

each  one  cannot  select  his  own  seventh 

day,  for  his  own  personal  convenience,  but 

the  whole  community  must  join  in  keeping 

the  Sabbath  on  the  same  seventh  day,  to 

gain  its  best  effects.     But  the  point  from 

which  we  count  is  not  laid  down  in  the 

commandment. 

There  is  need  of  emphasizing  the  vital 

importance  of  the  Sabbath  to  man,  and 

impressing  its   permanent  obligation.     It 

does  not  seem  possible  that   God   could 

abrogate  the  Fourth  Commandment  while 

he  was  still  writing  it  on  the  very  nature 

of  man.     The  Sabbath  law  is  like  a  wall 

around  a  garden:  not  for  its  own  sake,  but 

to  preserve  the  flowers  and  fruits  within 

the  enclosure.     Whosoever  says  that  we 

need  the  fruits,  but  care  nothing  for  the 

wall,  will  find  that  the  fruits  cannot  be  pro- 
14 


INTRODUCTION 

tected  and  enjoyed  without  the  wall,  till 
all  that  would  ruin  them  are  changed  into 
friends.  But  the  Christian  emphasis  lies 
on  the  fruits  and  flowers,  while  the  old 
Jewish  tradition  emphasized  the  wall.  A 
set  of  hard,  definite  rules  binding  the  con- 
duct, instead  of  great  principles  planted 
in  the  heart,  always  tends  to  evil,  to  incon- 
sistency and  hypocrisy,  and  smothers  the 
true  life  under  a  load  of  mere  outward 
forms,  as  King  Henry,  angry  with  his 
courtiers,  locked  them  into  the  dining- 
room  and  smothered  them  with  roses  and 
flowers,  so  that 

**  E'en  Sunday  shines  no  Sabbath  day  to  me." 

But  if  the  value  of  the  Sabbath  is  clearly 
felt,  and  its  blessing  to  the  individual  and 
to  the  Nation  is  recognized  as  the  means 
of  training  and  inspiring  the  soul,  cultiva- 
ting the  moral  nature,  and  uplifting  the 
15 


INTRODUCTION 

whole  being  to  a  higher  atmosphere  of 
living,  then  the  outward  rules  can  be  main- 
tained so  far  as  to  preserve  the  Sabbath 
blessings. 

"'  Tis  more  our  soul's  sweet  zeal  than  body's  rest, 
That  makes  this  day  *of  all  the  week  the  best.'  " 

F.  N.  PELOUBET. 


i6 


PREFACE 

nr^HE  MONOGRAPH  now  presented 
to  the  Christian  world  came  into  be- 
ing as  the  result  of  my  studies  in  New 
Testament  interpretation.  In  training  Nor- 
mal Teachers'  Classes  for  Sunday-school 
work,  I  discovered  some  years  ago,  that 
the  Jewish  Sabbath  and  the  Christian  vSab- 
bath  are  identical  in  substance,  the  Sabbath, 
as  an  Institution,  having  been  transferred 
from  Saturday  to  Sunday  on  the  morning 
of  the  Resurrection.  This  surprising  dis- 
covery gave  me  a  thrill  of  pleasure,  as  I 
could  never  understand  before  it  was  made 
why  the  Fourth  Commandment,  as  inter- 
preted by  the  Jews,  is  not  binding  upon 
Christians.  I  felt  that  so  important  a  fact, 
involving  a  new  rendering  of  some  pas- 

2  17 


PREFACE 

sages  of  Scripture,  required  thoughtful 
study  and  careful  verification  before  any 
public  announcement  should  be  made  to 
the  Christian  world.  Repeatedly  examin- 
ing all  the  passages  of  Scripture  touching 
this  matter,  and  consulting  all  accessible 
authorities  on  this  subject,  I  entered  into  a 
correspondence  with  many  who  make  New 
Testament  interpretation  a  life-work.  The 
subject  has  thus  grown  upon  my  hands  and 
filled  my  heart  for  about  ten  years,  until  I 
believe  the  following  monograph,  com- 
pressed into  the  briefest  space  possible 
consistent  with  perspicuity,  will  be  accept- 
able to  students  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
especially  to  Sunday-school  teachers. 

To  the  Christian  who  receives  this  im- 
portant fact  of  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath 
with  its  full  significance,  the  Holy  Day 
breaks  over  the  world  with  a  new  light,  as 

the  sacred  season  for  rest  and  worship  set 
i8 


PREFACE 

apart  by  Jehovah,  when  the  heavens  and 
earth  were  finished,  and  **the  morning 
stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of 
God  shouted  for  joy,"  and  also  the  joyful 
time  when  the  Lord  of  life  triumphed  over 
death,  and  came  forth  from  the  sepulcher 
as  a  Mighty  Conqueror. 

In  the  increased  radiance  of  the  Sabbath 
transferred^  we  can  utter  the  words  of  the 
Great  Prophet  when  he  said:  "The  light 
of  the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the 
sun,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  shall  be  seven- 
fold, as  the  light  of  seven  days." 

With  the  prayer  that  true  Christians  may 

soon  **see  eye  to  eye"  in  the  observance 

of  the  Sabbath  day,  this  monograph  is  cast 

upon  the  troubled  waters. 

J.  D.  P. 
East  Orange,  New  Jersey. 


19 


THE 
SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  SABBATH  A  MOVABLE   INSTITUTION 

/^^OD,  who  inhabits  eternity,  and  fills  all 
space  with  his  presence,  may  be  wor- 
shiped at  all  times,  and  in  every  place. 
But  finite  man,  under  the  limitations  of  his 
earthly  life,  needs  times  of  rest  to  recuper- 
ate his  powers,  and  sacred  seasons  for 
worship  and  spiritual  refreshment.  The 
Sacred  Scriptures  recognize  these  limita- 
tions and  spiritual  needs  of  human  nature, 
and  discriminate  between  holy  time  used 
for  religious  purposes  and  secular  time, 

21 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

making  them  separate  and  distinct  things. 
One-seventh  of  the  time  composed  of  re- 
curring segments  called  days,  measured 
naturally  by  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on 
its  axis,  was  set  apart  for  rest  and  worship. 
In  seven  consecutive  revolutions  of  the 
earth  on  its  axis,  the  last  revolution,  or 
day,  coincided  analogically  with  this  time 
of  rest  and  worship  because  God  rested 
on  the  seventh  period  of  creation  from  all 
the  work  which  he  had  made.  It  may  en- 
able the  mind  to  distinguish  between  holy 
and  secular  time  by  remembering  that  the 
seventh  day,  following  the  first  hexahem- 
eron,  existed  as  secular  time  for  ages,  even 
from  the  time  the  earth  began  to  revolve 
on  its  axis  until  the  end  of  creation,  before 
the  Sabbath  was  instituted.  This  seventh 
segment  of  time  for  rest  and  worship  was 
placed  on  a  secular  day,  or  revolution  of 
the  earth,  to  commemorate  the  creation  of 

22 


THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION" 

the  world.  If  man  should  be  removed 
from  the  earth  the  Sabbath  would  cease  to 
be,  as  it  was  made  for  man,  but  the  seventh 
day  would  continue  to  exist  as  long  as  the 
earth  revolved  on  its  axis  as  a  member  of 
the  solar  system.  If  the  Sabbath  can  be 
placed  on  and  taken  off  from  a.  secular  day 
without  disturbing  it  as  an  element  of  time, 
the  same  authority  could  transfer  it  from 
one  secular  day  to  another  to  commemo- 
rate another  and  greater  event,  the  New 
Creation. 

The  Sabbath,  one-seventh  of  the  time, 
is  a  Divine  Institution,  and  forms  a  part 
of  the  Moral  Law,  which  was  written  on 
tables  of  stone  to  indicate  its  perpetuity. 
But  the  secular  day,  on  which  the  Sabbath 
was  observed,  is  not  a  part  of  the  Moral 
Law,  for  it  existed  for  ages  before  the 
Moral  Law  was  promulgated,  and  it  does 
not  differ  in  character  from  any  other  sec- 
23 


'   THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

ular  day.  The  Sabbath,  and  the  seventh 
day  on  which  it  was  observed,  differ  from 
each  other  in  their  origin,  nature  and  rela- 
tion to  created  things.  The  Sabbath, 
although  anticipated  and  foreshadowed  in 
the  very  constitution  of  things,  came  form- 
ally as  an  Institution  by  divine  appoint- 
ment, for  purposes  of  rest,  and  commemo- 
ration. It  possesses  moral  characteristics, 
and  commemorates  important  events.  It 
differs  essentially  from  the  seventh  day 
which  like  all  other  secular  days  is  simply 
a  natural  division  of  time  measured  by  the 
revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis.  Secu- 
lar days  have  been  in  existence  from  the 
time  the  earth  began  to  revolve  on  its  axis, 
the  month  has  existed  from  the  time  the 
moon  began  to  revolve  around  the  earth 
in  its  orbit,  and  the  week  suggested  prob- 
ably by-  the  phases  of  the  moon,  has  been 

employed  from  time  immemorial.    A  week 

24 


THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION 

may  be  divided,  as  it  would  naturally  have 
been  before  the  creation  was  finished,  into 
seven  equal  segments  each  one  purely 
secular  measured  by  a  revolution  of  the 
earth  on  its  axis.  A  week  may  also  be 
divided  in  thought,  so  that  one-seventh  of 
it  may  be  considered  holy  time.  These 
two  weeks  may  be  superimposed,  so  that 
the  holy  time  corresponds  with  the  seventh 
day,  as  it  was  under  the  Jewish  economy. 
This  segment  of  holy  time  may  also  be 
transferred,  or  slipped  forward  a  day,  as  it 
was  at  the  Resurrection,  so  that  the  Sab- 
bath coincides  with  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  as  it  is  under  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion. By  the  application  of  heat,  oxygen 
and  hydrogen  in  chemical  combination  may 
be  made  to  assume  the  forms  of  a  solid, 
liquid,  or  gas,  but  the  substances  still  re- 
main in  existence  under  all  the  modifica- 
tions. One-seventh  of  the  time  called 
25 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

Sabbath,  set  apart  for  rest  and  worship, 
as  a  Divine  Institution,  and  an  integral 
part  of  the  Moral  Law,  may  be  transferred 
from  one  revolution  of  the  earth  to 
another,  and  may  receive  modifications,  as 
to  the  manner  of  its  observance  under  the 
different  covenants,  but  it  cannot  be  abol- 
ished except  by  divine  authority  any  more 
than  oxygen  and  hydrogen  combined  in 
water  can  be  annihilated  by  the  action  of 
heat.  If  the  Sabbath  should  cease  to 
exist  for  one  moment  of  time,  the  Fourth 
Commandment  would  lose  its  authority 
and  need  to  be  reenacted  by  its  Author, 
as  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  whole  Deca- 
logue on  similar  grounds  might  be  abol- 
ished, but  both  tables  of  the  law  were 
gathered  up  by  Christ  in  two  command- 
ments and  reinforced.  In  the  Decalogue, 
God  says  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day, 

wherefore  he  blessed  the  Sabbath  day  and 
26 


'CARTOGRAPHICAL  ILLUSTRATION 

OF   THE   TRANSFER   OF   THE   SABBATH   AT  THE 

RESURRECTION 

A   WEKK,    BEFORE   THE   SABBATH    WAS    INSTITUTED 


Sunday 

Monday 

Tuesday 

Wednesday 

Thursday 

Friday 

Saturday 

A    WEEK,    BETWEEN    THE    INSTITUTION    OF    THE    SABBATH    AND 
THE   RESURRECTION 


Sunday 

Monday 

Tuesday 

Wednesday 

Thursday 

Friday 

Sabbatb 

or 
Saturday 

/ 


THE   SABBATH    TRANSFERRED   AT   THE   RESURRECTION 


Saturday. 

Sabbath 

or 

Sunday 

A   WEEK,    UNDER   THE   CHRISTIAN    DISPENSATION 


Sabbatb 

or 
Sunday 

Monday 

Tuesday 

Wednesday 

Thursday 

Friday 

Saturday 

THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION' 

hallowed  it,  leaving  the  secular  day  on 
which  it  was  observed  free  to  be  displaced 
by  another  secular  day  in  the  unfolding 
economies  of  grace. 

The  cartographical  illustrations  on  the 
opposite  page  may  aid  the  mind  in  form- 
ing a  conception  of  the  transfer  of  the 
Sabbath  from  Saturday  to  Sunday  at  the 
Resurrection. 

It  must  be  obvious  that  the  secular 
days,  as  names  for  the  revolutions  of  the 
earth,  are  fixed ;  but  the  Sabbath,  as  a 
civil  and  religious  Institution,  came  by 
appointment,  and  is  therefore  movable,  and 
can  be  transferred  from  one  secular  day 
to  another. 

Time  is  measured  by  the  movements  of 
the  members  of  the  solar  system  most 
apparent  to  the  observer.  To  an  observer 
on  the  earth,  the  mean  day  may  be  con- 
sidered the  unit  of  time  as  measured  by 
27 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis. 
The  revolution  of  the  moon  around  the 
earth  measures  the  month,  and  the  waxing 
and  waning  of  the  moon,  in  its  four 
quarters,  divides  the  month  into  weeks. 
The  revolution  of  the  earth  around  the 
sun  measures  the  year,  and  the  movement 
of  the  sun  in  the  ecliptic  determines  the 
four  seasons. 

The  week,  as  related  to  the  unit  of  time, 
is  made  up  of  seven  segments  or  natural 
days.  The  Sabbath  (crd/B^aTOT/)  is  an  In- 
stitution, and  does  not  form  an  integral 
part  of  the  secular  week.  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day  (Gen.  2:3),  and  sanctified  it, 
but,  as  far  as  we  have  any  record,  he  never 
blessed  Saturday,  or  any  other  portion  of 
secular  time  above  another  portion.  Bless- 
ing the  seventh  day  was  equivalent  fo 
blessing  one  day  in  seven,  or  in  other  words, 

blessing  the  Sabbath,   and   the   Sabbath, 
28 


THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION 

under  the  Christian  dispensation,  is  still 
observed  one  day  in  seven.  In  the  Deca- 
logue (Ex.  20:  1 1),  God  also  formally 
blessed  the  Sabbath  and  hallowed  it.  The 
seven  secular  days,  each  measured  by  the 
revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  origi- 
nally filled  up  the  whole  week,  one  quad- 
rant of  the  moon's  monthly  orbit,  and  the 
Sabbath  was  not  needed  to  make  the  week 
complete,  as  the  stream  of  secular  time 
flowed  on  uninterruptedly  without  the 
Sabbath,  and  week  after  week  of  secular 
time  filled  up  the  year,  as  measured  by  the 
revolution  of  the  earth  about  the  sun. 
The  names  of  the  days,  and  of  all  the 
divisions  of  time,  are  only  names  for  the 
movements  of  members  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem. The  measurement  of  time  is  as  old 
as  the  movements  of  the  solar  system, 
whose  origin  reaches  back  to  an  antiquity 

beyond   human    computation.     Originally 
29 


.       THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

the  Sabbath  was  not  the  name  of  any 
measurement  of  time,  as  indicated  by  the 
movements  in  the  solar  system.  To  meet 
the  necessities  of  man,  when  he  came  into 
being,  the  Sabbath  was  instituted  at  the 
end  of  creation  for  rest  and  religious  pur- 
poses, and  this  Institution  was  placed  on 
Saturday,  to  commemorate  the  creation, 
which  displays  the  attributes  of  its  Maker. 
The  Sabbath  never  became  identical  with 
Saturday,  for  Saturday  had  existed  for 
ages,  and  two  things  differing  in  their  very 
character  cannot  become  one  and  the  same 
thing.  A  sacred  day,  however,  dedicated 
to  holy  purposes,  can  be  substituted  for  a 
secular  day.  Sabbath  is  the  true  name  for 
the  Institution,  and  whenever  it  takes  the 
place  of  a  secular  day,  the  name  of  the 
secular  day  displaced  should  become  ob-* 
solescent.     The   Sabbath   came   for  rest, 

and  to  direct  the  thoughts  of  men  to  the 
30 


THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION 

Creator  in  gratitude  and  reverence  for  the 
display  of  his  attributes  in  Creation. 

The  Sabbath  has  naturally  two  limita- 
tions in  regard  (i)  to  its  length,  and  (2) 
the  frequency  of  its  occurrence.  Reason- 
ably the  Sabbath  would  be  equal  to  a  unit 
of  time,  or  a  natural  day,  not  a  fractional 
day.  The  sacred  day  is  a  full  unit  of  time, 
and  as  the  hours  move  on  to  complete  its 
cycle,  man  has  time  for  rest  and  for  holy 
activity,  he  receives  light  and  heat  from 
the  sun,  the  constellations  set  in  the  deep 
heavens  remind  him  of  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  the  Creator,  and  all  the  marvels 
and  beauties  of  nature  are  revealed  to  him 
to  subserve  the  highest  purposes  of  his 
being.  During  this  rounded  period,  which 
was  chosen  and  dedicated  to  holy  pur- 
poses, everything  that  nature  possesses  is 
brought  before  man,  and  grouped  in  one 

complex  whole,  to  elevate  and  refine  his 
31 


,       THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

thoughts,  and  thus  all  things  in  nature  con- 
spire to  develop  his  moral  and  spiritual 
life.  We  cannot  conceive  of  divine  wis- 
dom setting  apart  for  religious  purposes 
anything  less  than  a  unit  of  time  to  pro- 
duce the  highest  welfare  of  a  religious 
being.  The  Book  of  Nature  was  opened 
and  placed  before  man,  and  as  Nature 
turned  the  pages  slowly  night  and  day, 
during  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons,  the 
original  Sabbath  as  a  complete  unit  of 
time,  gave  man  every  evidence  of  God's 
attributes,  as  written  in  the  earth  and  in 
the  heavens.  And  when  fuller  Revelation 
came  to  man,  he  had  ample  opportunity, 
during  this  unit  of  time,  repeated  every 
seven  days,  to  learn  the  will  of  God,  and  to 
worship  in  his  temples.  The  psalmist 
says  :  ''  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and 
night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge,"  and 


32 


THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION 

man  listens  more  attentively  on  holy  than 
on  secular  days. 

The  septenary  order  of  the  Sabbath  is 
founded  in  the  very  nature  of  man,  for 
abundant  facts  prove  that  one  day  in 
seven  for  rest  and  worship  is  better  than 
any  other  order. 

It  may  help  the  mind  to  form  a  concep- 
tion of  the  Sabbath,  as  an  Institution, 
separate  and  differing  from  the  day  on 
which  it  is  observed,  by  reminding  the 
reader  that  there  are  other  time  Institu- 
tions, like  Thanksgiving  and  Easter. 
Thanksgiving  is  clearly  an  Institution,  but 
it  does  not  occur  on  any  calendar  day 
until  the  President  by  proclamation  places 
it  on  some  Thursday  in  November.  Easter 
is  also  an  Institution,  but  the  calendar  day 
on  which  it  is  observed  is  not  determined 
until  the  moon  fulls  on  or  about  the  twenty- 
first  of  March.     Easter  may  occur  as  early 

3  33 


^       THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

as  the  twenty-second  of  March,  or  as  late 
as  the  twenty-fifth  of  April.  Still  both  of 
these  Institutions  exist  de  facto  all  the  year 
round  as  really  as  they  do  after  it  is  deter- 
mined to  observe  them  on  some  calendar 
day.  In  a  similar  way  the  Sabbath  is  an 
Institution,  which  can  be  placed  by  divine 
authority  on  a  secular  day,  or  be  trans- 
ferredy  under  divine  Providence,  from  one 
secular  day  to  another. 

Christ  says,  ''  Think  not  that  I  am  come 
to  destroy  the  [moral]  law."  If  the  Sab- 
bath, of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  were 
abolished,  would  not  that  destroy  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  moral  law?  But  in 
transferring  the  Sabbath  of  the  Fourth 
Commandment,  from  Saturday  to  Sunday, 
Christ  would  preserve  the  Institution  in 
its  integrity  and  septenary  order,  and  thus 
fulfill  the  law,  enlarging  the  Sabbath  and 


34 


THE    SABBATH  A    MOVABLE    INSTITUTION" 

giving  it  the  liberty  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  Christian  dispensation. 

Was  it  not  the  divine  purpose  that 
Judaism  should  develop  into  Christianity, 
as  the  bud  and  blossom  develop  into  fruit  ? 
for  Paul  says  the  **law  was  our  school- 
master to  bring  us  unto  Christ.'*  Is  it  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  as  a  part  of  the  system,  would 
develop  under  divine  Providence,  into  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  as  each  part  partakes 
of  the  nature  and  modifications  of  the 
whole  ? 

It  is  claimed  that  some  people  in  heathen 
lands  are  so  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  as- 
tronomy, that  when  they  see  the  sun  go 
down  in  the  west,  they  think  it  has  been 
destroyed,  and  when  they  see  the  sun 
rising  in  the  east,  they  think  it  is  another 
sun.     So  some  Christians  are  so  limited 

in  their  views  of  the  Sabbath,  that  when 
35 


,     THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

the  Jewish  Sabbath  disappears  from  his- 
tory, and  they  behold  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath coming  into  the  new  dispensation, 
they  do  not  dream  that  these  two  apparent 
Sabbaths  are  identicaly  the  same  Institu- 
tion, that  the  Sabbath  has  simply  been 
transferred  from  one  secular  day  to  another 
in  the  Providence  of  God.  As  we  now 
know  that  the  sun  that  sets  in  the  west  is 
the  same  sun  that  rises  in  the  east,  may 
the  time  soon  come  when  all  Christians 
will  also  know  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and 
Christian  Sabbath  are  the  same,  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  and 
of  both  dispensations,  which  like  the  sun 
will  diffuse  its  blessed  light  around  the 
whole  world. 


36 


CHAPTER    II 

EVIDENCE   FROM  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  OP 

\h\^^      THE    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

^  I  ^HE  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  one 
secular  day  to  another,  it  is  believed, 
is  in  harmony  with  the  unfolding  of  the 
economies  of  grace,  and  is  sustained  by  a 
correct  interpretation  of  the  Sacred  Script- 
ures. In  Mat.  28:1  two  Sabbaths  are 
mentioned,  one  occurring  on  Saturday,  and 
one  on  Sunday.  The  words  of  the  apostle 
are  **in  the  end  of  the  [Jewish]  Sabbath, 
as  it  began  to  dawn  towards  the  first  day 
of  the  week,"  or  as  it  reads  literally,  to- 
wards one  of  the  Sabbaths,  (ets  y^iojv  cra^- 
^aTwv),  that  is  the  Christian  Sabbath.  The 
apostle  here  speaks  of  two  Sabbaths,  and 

says  that  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  had  come 
37 


.  THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

to  an  end,  and  as  the  Christian  Sabbath 
began  to  dawn,  Mary  Magdalene  and  the 
other  Mary  came  to  the  sepulcher.  Dean 
Alford  (in  loco)  says:  ''The  words  cra^- 
pdroiv  and  iiiav  (xa^^drcov  are  opposed 
both  being  days''  The  phrase  ''first  day 
of  the  week,"  used  in  the  English  version 
in  this  place  and  in  parallel  passages,  was 
evidently  derived  by  the  translators  from 
the  Modern  Greek  Testament,  which  has 
T17S  TTpcjTrjS  rj^€pa<;  ttJs  eySSo/iaSo?.  The 
opinion  of  the  Modern  Greeks  is  valuable, 
but  their  version  carries  only  the  weight 
of  human  opinions  on  disputed  points.  It 
is  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
word  (Ta^^dT(x)Vy  as  used  by  the  apostle 
here  and  in  all  parallel  passages,  is  a  plural 
genitive  limiting  some  form  of  7)fjLepa  un- 
derstood, and  is  to  be  taken  in  its  primitive 
signification,    as    in    Col.    2:16,    meaning 

Sabbaths,  and  not  sabbatical  week.     The 
38 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

Greek  phrase  for  the  *' first  day  of  the 
week,"  would  be  Trpayrr)  crafi/BaTov,  as  used 
in  Mark  16:9.  To  translate  the  words 
€19  fjLLav  o-a^^aTCDv  ''towards  the  first  day 
of  the  week"  is  to  read  into  these  words 
a  meaning  which  the  apostle  evidently  did 
not  intend  to  express,  and  to  lose  their 
deep  significance  which  affords  us  substan- 
tial proof  of  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath 
at  the  Resurrection.  The  use  of  eh  {fXLa) 
for  7rpairo9  is  not  classical,  and  the  words 
CCS  /xtai^  cra^^drcov  are  not  an  equivalent  for 
€19  TTpcjTTjv  crafi/3dT0)v,  and  ought  not  to  be 
translated  **  towards  the  first  day  of  the 
week."  It  is  true  that  the  Resurrection 
took  place  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but 
it  was  more  than  this,  for  the  apostle  de- 
clares that  the  Resurrection  was  on  one  of 
the  Sabbaths.  Christ,  according  to  the 
tradition,  was  crucified  on  Friday,  lay  in 

the   tomb   during   Saturday,   the   day   of 
39 


'  THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

the  (Jewish)  Sabbath,  and  rose  early  on 
Sunday  morning,  and  Matthew  calls  this 
time  of  the  Resurrection  one  of  the  Sab- 
baths, {fjbCav  o-afi^aTcov).  Evidently  the 
Sabbath,  as  an  Institution,  the  time  for 
rest  and  worship,  was  transferred  at  the 
Resurrection  from  one  secular  day  to  an- 
other, from  Saturday  to  Sunday.  As 
there  can  be  but  one  Sabbath,  one-seventh 
of  the  time,  the  Sabbath  was  hereafter 
to  be  observed  on  Sunday,  as  the  day 
of  rest  and  worship,  and  the  (Jewish) 
Sabbath  was  spoken  of  subsequently  his- 
torically. In  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath 
from  the  old  economy,  it  would  naturally 
lose  its  Jewish  characteristics,  and  the  day 
and  the  breaking  of  the  day  would  be  taken 
in  the  natural  meaning  of  those  terms  un- 
der the  Christian  dispensation.  The  Sab- 
bath, under  the  Jewish  economy,  began  at 

evening,  for  it  is  said  "from    even  unto 
40 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

even  shall  ye  celebrate  your  Sabbath" 
(Lev.  23  :32).  As  the  Sabbath  was  insti- 
tuted at  the  end  of  creation,  and  was 
typical  of  rest,  it  seemed  natural  that  it 
should  begin  when  the  activities  of  the  day 
were  over,  or  at  even.  But  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  Luke  says,  began  very  early  in 
the  morning  {opOpov  fiaOeos),  or  at  the 
moment  of  the  Resurrection.  In  the  trans- 
fer of  the  Sabbath  from  the  Jewish  econ- 
omy to  the  Christian  dispensation,  this 
Institution  would  naturally  lose  its  local 
characteristics  and  limitations,  and  become 
cosmopolitan  in  character,  a  sacred  day  for 
the  whole  world.  The  Christian  Sabbath 
signifies  holy  activity  more  than  rest,  and 
implies  that  with  the  risen  Lord  his  people 
should  arise  with  Him  with  great  rejoicing, 
and  go  forth  in  His  strength  to  save  the 
world. 

In  Mark  16 :  1-2,  the  evangelist  is  even 
41 


.    THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

more  definite.  He  says  :  "  And  when  the 
[Jewish]  Sabbath  was  past,  Mary  Magda- 
lene, and  Mary  the  mother  of  James,  and 
Salome  had  brought  sweet  spices,  that  they 
might  come  and  anoint  him.  And  very 
early  in  the  morning,  the  first  day  of  the 
week,"  or  as  it  reads  literally,  of  one  of  the 
Sabbaths  {ttj^  /xtas  o-a^fiaToiv),  "they  came 
unto  the  sepulcher,  at  the  rising  of  the 
sun.'*  In  these  words  the  evangelist  says 
the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  **was  past,"  and  he 
uses  the  verb  8taytVo/xai  in  the  Second 
Aorist,  signifying  that  the  action  was  com- 
plete. The  preposition  8ia  in  composition 
gives  intensity  to  the  verb  to  show  that  the 
transition  of  time  was  entirely  finished 
through  to  the  very  end,  that  the  (Jewish) 
Sabbath  had  transpired  before  the  Sabbath 
commenced  which  is  mentioned  in  the  sec- 
ond verse.     In  Mark  16:9  the  evangelist 

tells  us  Jesus  rose  very  early  on  the  first 
42 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

day  of  the  week  (ai/ao-ras  8e  trpok  Trparrri 
o-a^^aTov)  which  gives  us  divine  authority 
for  observing  the  Sabbath  on  Sunday,  the 
first  day  of  the  week. 

In  Luke  23:55  seg^.,  the  evangelist  gives 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  Resurrection.  He 
says  in  substance :  The  holy  women  fol- 
lowed and  beheld  the  sepulcher,  and  re- 
turned and  prepared  spices  and  ointments, 
and  rested  on  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  day, 
according  to  the  commandment.  Now, 
upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  (Luke 
24  :  i),  or  as  it  reads  literally,  on  one  of  the 
Sabbaths  in  the  deep  twilight,  (rfj  8e  /ita  tcop 
a-a^^droiv,  opOpov  ^adeos),  they  come  unto 
the  sepulcher.  The  holy  women  rested  on 
the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  according  to  the  com- 
mandment, and  came  to  the  sepulcher  in 
the  morning  twilight,  of  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  which  the  evangelist  calls  a  Sab- 
bath. 

43 


2^ 


.  THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

In  John  20 :  I,  the  apostle  uses  similar 
language.  He  says:  **The  first  day  of 
the  week,"  or  as  it  reads  literally,  on  one 
of  the  Sabbaths  {rfj  8e  /xta  twv  o-afifiaTCJv), 
cometh  Mary  Magdalene  early,  when  it 
was  yet  dark  unto  the  sepulcher."  Here 
the  beloved  disciple  calls  Sunday,  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  a  Sabbath,  and  in  the 
nineteenth  verse  he  again  calls  the  first 
day  of  the  week  a  Sabbath  {rrj  fiia  Ta>v 

Philip  Schaff,  with  many  of  the  best 
Christian  scholars,  believed  that  Pentecost, 
the  conclusion  of  the  Jewish  harvest,  and 
the  beginning  of  the  Christian  harvest  oc- 
curred on  the  Lord's  Day,  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  poured  out  in  its  fullness,  and 
cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire  sat  upon 
each  of  the  disciples. 

When  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  at  Anti- 

och  in   Pisidia,  on  their  first  missionary 
44 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

tour,  we  have  the  most  Indisputable  evi- 
dence of  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from 
Saturday  to  Sunday.  Paul  first  preached 
to  the  Jews  In  their  synagogue  on  the 
(Jewish)  Sabbath,  and  ''when  the  Jews 
were  gone  out  of  their  synagogue  [Acts 
13  142],  the  Gentiles  besought  that  these 
words  might  be  preached  to  them  the  next 
Sabbath"  (et?  to  fjuera^v  ad^^arov  in  the 
Sabbath  between),  that  Is,  the  Sabbath  be- 
tween the  (Jewish)  Sabbaths.  And  the 
narrative  continues  (Acts  1 3  :  44),  and  the 
next  Sabbath  day  (rco  8e  e^o/xeVw  cra^^drco 
crxeSo^  on  the  following  Sabbath  just  at 
hand),  came  almost  the  whole  city  together 
to  hear  the  Word  of  God.  When  the 
participle  i-^ofxevo^  is  used  In  reference  to 
place  It  designates  a  place  that  is  near  or 
next,  as  In  Mark  i  :  2,^  where  Christ  said 
**let  us  go  Into  the  next  towns"  [dyojfiei/ 

€t9  ra?    e^^o/xeVa?  /cw/xoTrdXei?).      When  the 

45 


,     THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

participle  is  used  in  reference  to  time  it 
designates  the  next  day,  as  in  Acts  21  .-26, 
where  "Paul  took  the  men,  and  the  next 
day  [r>5  ixofievrj  rjfxepa]  purifying  himself 
with  them  entered  into  the  temple."  The 
evangelist  here  says  the  following  Sabbath, 
(on  which  the  Gentiles  would  naturally 
hold  religious  service),  was  between  the 
(Jewish)  Sabbaths,  and  near  at  hand,  that 
is,  on  Sunday.  Can  language  be  framed 
that  would  prove  the  transfer  of  the  Sab- 
bath from  Saturday  to  Sunday  more  clearly 
and  indisputably  than  this  language  of  the 
inspired  evangelist? 

Surely  this  indubitable  proof  of  the 
transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  Saturday  to 
Sunday  must  satisfy  every  intelligent,  can- 
did mind  that  receives  the  New  Testament 
as  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  and  is  will- 
ing  to   base    his   theories   on   the    facts. 

When  the  Lord  speaks  through  his  chosen 
46 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

apostles  by  his  inspired  word,  or  by  exam- 
ple under  the  guidance  of  inspiration,  let 
the  earth  keep  silence. 

In  Acts  20 : 7,  the  evangelist  says : 
"Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,"  or  as  it 
reads  literally,  on  one  of  the  Sabbaths  (Iv  8e 
T^  /Ata  TQiv  o-a^^aTcov),  **  when  the  disciples 
came  together  to  break  bread,  Paul  preach- 
ed to  them,"  se^.  Here  the  disciples  came 
together  as  a  religious  assembly,  on  Sun- 
day the  first  day  of  the  week,  called  by  the 
evangelist  a  Sabbath,  and  partook  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  Paul  preached  to  them. 
The  Syriac  translates  the  words  ''to  break 
bread"  to  break  the  eucharist ;  for  the 
early  Christians  celebrated  the  Lord's  sup-. 
per  every  Lord's  Day,  which  they  consid- 
ered the  Christian  Sabbath. 

In  I  Cor.  16:2,  Paul  says  :  **on  the  first 

day  of  the  week"  which  reads  literally, 

upon  one  of  the  Sabbaths  {Kara  fiCav  crayS- 
47 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

^6.T0iv\  **let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him 
in  store  as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that 
there  be  no  gatherings  when  I  come." 
This  refers  to  the  rehgious  offerings  which 
Christians  made  on  Sunday  in  their  relig- 
ious assemblies.  This  Christian  assembly 
for  worship  and  religious  offerings,  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  Paul  says  took  place 
on  the  Sabbath,  that  is,  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath. 

In  Col.  2:16  the  apostle  says  :  "  Let  no 
man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in 
drink,  or  in  respect  of  an  holyday,  or  of 
the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  days 
(o-a^ySaro)!^)."  Christians  had  been  freed 
from  the  ritualism  of  the  Jewish  econ- 
omy, and  in  their  Christian  freedom  they 
should  not  let  any  one  sit  in  judgment 
on  them  in  respect  to  these  things. 
Even  if  they  preferred  the  Christian  to  the 

(Jewish)  Sabbath,  they  were  to  maintain 
4$ 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF   THE    SABBATH 

their  Christian  Hberty.  The  apostle  in- 
cludes the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  among  the 
shadows  of  those  things  to  come,  for  the 
body  is  of  Christ. 

In  Rev.  I  :  lo  John  says :  "I  was  in  the 
spirit  on  the  Lord's  Day  "  (eV  rrj  KvpLaKrj 
'qfjLepa).  This  was  the  day,  on  which  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead,  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
which  from  this  time  was  generally  called 
the  Lord's  Day.       . 

God  has  left  many  truths  to  be  discov- 
ered by  men,  and  revealed  truths  some- 
times dawn  on  the  world  slowly.  When 
Harvey  discovered  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  in  1 6 1 6,  it  is  claimed  that  not  a  physi- 
cian in  Great  Britain  over  forty  years  of 
age  ever  received  the  new  theory.  For 
many  centuries  men  believed  the  earth 
is  flat,  and  that  the  sun  revolves,  as  it 
appears,  around  the  earth.  Even  the  dis- 
ciples were  very  slow  to  believe  in  the 

4  49 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

Resurrection.  It  is  not  strange  that  men 
have  been  slow  to  believe  in  the  transfer  of 
the  Sabbath.  Still,  this  view  has  been  held 
by  many  advanced  thinkers,  like  Alcuin, 
the  confidant,  teacher  and  adviser  of  Char- 
lemagne, Dr.  Philip  Schaff  and  Dr.  F.  N. 
Peloubet,  and  the  time  is  evidently  not  far 
distant  when  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath 
will  become  the  generally  accepted  view  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

Prof.  James  R.  Boise,  the  eminent  Greek 
scholar,  who  once  lived  at  Athens,  and 
could  speak  Modern  Greek  like  a  native, 
affirmed  that  when  King  James'  Translation 
was  published,  no  better  translation  had 
ever  been  made  from  the  Greek  language. 
Since  that  time,  however,  critical  scholars, 
such  as  Tischendorf,  Tregelles,  De  Wette, 
Lachmann  and  others  have  been  collating 
the  MSS.,  and  the  Textus  Receptus  has 
been  greatly  improved.  The  New  Version 
50 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

gives  a  more  faithful  rendering  of  the  orig- 
inal. New  Versions  will  undoubtedly  be 
demanded  by  Christian  people  from  age  to 
age,  for  English  words  undergo  a  change 
of  meaning  in  the  lapse  of  time,  and  men 
see  more  in  Revelation,  as  the  increasing 
light  of  the  Universal  Kingdom  shines 
upon  it.  The  Bible  may  be  compared  to 
the  ocean,  and  men  have  only  **  picked  up 
a  few  pebbles "  along  the  shore.  The 
Bible  is  a  great  deep,  but  the  Universe  is 
larger,  deeper  and  more  profound,  and  the 
Infinite  God,  who  strives  to  reveal  himself 
to  men,  is  greater  than  all  the  works  of  his 
hands.  Revelation  may  be  compared  to  a 
lighthouse  on  a  stormy  coast.  All  the 
depths  and  shoals  of  time  and  space  are 
not  revealed,  but  the  sacred  light  is  clear 
and  steady,  and  whoever  guides  his  barque 
of  life  by  the  light  that  shines  from  above 
will  enter  the  haven  of  rest 
^  51 


-THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

When  there  is  so  much  darkness  in  this 
world,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Transferred 
Sabbath  has  not  been  fully  understood. 
How  many  things  such  as  mountains, 
forests  and  lakes  are  dimly  seen  in  the 
twilight,  that  are  clearly  revealed  when  the 
sun  mounts  into  the  heavens.  The  Sab- 
bath, although  imperfectly  understood,  is 
a  great  factor  in  the  true  development  of 
mankind.  Some  claim  that  the  Sabbath, 
as  an  Institution,  is  religious,  some  moral, 
some  hygienic,  and  some  civil.  It  has  all 
these  aspects  and  relations  to  men  com- 
bined. Next  to  the  Incarnation,  and  the 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Bible 
and  the  Sabbath  are  the  most  precious 
gifts  of  God.  There  is  a  depth  of  mean- 
ing in  the  Sabbath,  to  every  man,  to  every 
church,  to  every  community,  and  to  every 
nation,  desiring  to  make  true  progress  in 
all  that  pertains  to  the  higher  life. 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

Men  have  been  slow  in  comprehending 
great  truths.  The  power  of  seeing  is 
subjective.  The  Master  recognized  this 
when  he  said  :  '*  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear 
let  him  hear."  An  uncultivated  man  will 
rush  over  a  landscape  and  see  almost 
nothing,  while  a  botanist,  a  geologist,  or  a 
biologist,  will  pass  along  slowly  over  the 
same  path,  each  one  examining  those 
things  in  his  particular  line  of  studies. 

Christians  are  just  beginning  to  under- 
stand the  Transferred  Sabbath,  although 
some  Sabbatarians  have  claimed  that  **the 
last  word  has  been  said  on  the  Sabbath." 
Two  Sabbaths  seem  to  appear  in  history, 
and  men  have  been  confused.  Some  claim 
that  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  is  still  in  force  with 
all  its  limitations  and  restrictions.  How 
intelligent  men  can  hold  such  a  view  is  not 
apparent.     Moses  (Numb.  15  :  36)  caused 

a  manTlbund  picking  up  sticks  to  be  stoned 
53 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

to  death ;  but  the  disciples  went  through 
the  corn-fields  (Mat.  12  :  i)  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  plucked  the  ears  of  corn,  and  did  eat, 
rubbing  them  in  their  hands.  And  the 
Master  referred  the  complaining  Pharisees 
to  the  act  of  David  eating  the  showbread, 
and  said  **  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  also  of 
the  Sabbath."  Some  claim  that  the  (Jew- 
ish) Sabbath  has  been  abolished,  but  they 
do  not  tell  us  when  or  how  it  was  abol- 
ished. Some  affirm  that  the  Christian 
Sabbath  is  founded  on  usage.  How  can 
usage  nullify  the  Fourth  Commandment  ? 
Some  say  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  founded 
on  the  Resurrection,  but  they  do  not  tell 
what  became  of  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath.  If 
the  Fourth  Commandment  is  still  in  force, 
what  relation  is  there  between  this  com- 
mandment and  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and 
how  was  this  relation  established  ?     Some 

claim  that  the  sacred  day  was  **  changed/' 
54 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH- 

but  they  fail  to  tell  us  to  what  extent. 
Some  say  there  was  a  **  substitution,"  but 
do  not  explain  how  it  was  accomplished. 
Some  affirm  that  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath 
**  was  absorbed  "  by  the  Christian  Sabbath. 
If  this  absorption  was  as  perfect  as  when 
the  juices  of  the  lemon  were  sucked  out 
and  the  peeling  of  the  lemon  swallowed,  it 
might  be  close  to  the  truth.  Some  affirm 
that  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  was  nailed  to  the 
cross  of  Christ,  and  refer  as  proof  to  Col. 
2:14,  where  Paul  speaks  of  the  "hand- 
writing of  ordinances,"  which  was  against 
and  contrary  to  Christians,  as  being  blotted 
out  and  nailed  to  the  cross.  But  the  Sab- 
bath was  never  against,  or  contrary  to 
Christians,  and  could  not  be  counted  as  a 
part  of  Jewish  ordinances  mentioned  by 
the  apostle,  that  after  the  Resurrection 
were  arrayed  against  Christians.     Christ 

only  fulfilled  the  ceremonial  law,  but  reaf- 
55 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

firmed  the  Moral  Law,  of  which  the  Sab- 
bath is  an  essential  part.  Some  people  go 
so  far  as  to  say  they  will  keep  both 
Sabbaths,  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  and  the 
Christian  Sabbath.  Now  there  is  but  one 
Sabbath  {(jd^^aTov)y  one-seventh  of  the 
time,  which  under  the  Mosaic  economy  was 
called  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  under  the 
New  Covenant  is  called  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath.  In  the  Fourth  Commandment,  the 
week  is  divided  into  two  parts,  secular  and 
sacred.  The  Commandment  says  we 
must  work  during  the  secular  part:  **Six 
days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work." 
The  obligation  to  work  during  the  six  days 
of  the  week  is  just  as  binding  as  to  rest 
on  the  Sabbath.  If  a  man  can  earn  more 
than  he  needs,  there  are  a  thousand  ways 
in  which  he  can  give  the  surplus  for  the 
benefit   of  mankind.     It  is   necessary  to 


56 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

work  with  mind  or  hands,  or  both,  to  enjoy 
the  Sabbath,  and  be  profited  by  it. 

Men  who  hold  some  of  these  theories 
have  entered  the  vestibule  of  the  Temple 
of  Truth.     If  they  will  explore  the  Temple 

^  they  will  find  more  truth. 

^qMy  true  theory  undoubtedly  is  that,  the 

Sabbath  (cra/3/3aToi/),  as  an  Institution,  was 
transferred  from  Saturday  to  Sunday  at  the 
Resurrection.  This  view  is  simple,  nat- 
ural and  reasonable,  and,  it  is  believed,  it 
is  fully  sustained  by  the  true  rendering  of 
the  double  (ja^^aroiv  used  by  the  evangel- 
ist in  connection  with  the  Resurrection. 
Greek  scholars  are  rather  conservative  in 
expressing  opinions,  but  there  is  a  consen- 
sus of  opinion  that  the  rendering  adopted 
in  this  monograph  does  not  violate  any 
principles  of  the  Greek  language.  If  be- 
lievers in  the  transfer  have  the  courage 

r 

57 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

they  can  walk  in  this  path,  but  they  must 
face  the  traditions  of  the  past.  One  who 
walks  in  this  way  will  probably  stumble 
over  the  dictionaries,  still  his  way  is  not 
really  hedged  up  by  philology.  The  path 
is  open,  but  he  must  walk  as  a  philosopher, 
and  not  as  a  philologist.  And  he  must  \ 
have  **the  courage  of  his  convictions."    V^ 

Conservatism  is  good  when  it  preserves 
the  truth,  and  eliminates  error,  but  there 
is  no  merit  in  perpetuating  venerable 
errors. 

How  reasonable  to  modify  the  Sabbath 
in  regard  to  time,  so  that  it  should  com- 
memorate the  Resurrection  as  well  as 
the  creation  of  the  world.  In  the  Civil 
War  statesmen  declared  that  the  Constitu- 
tion was  flexible  enough  to  save  the  nation. 
Is  not  the  Sabbath  flexible  enough  to  meet 
the  necessities  of  the  Divine  Kingdom  ? 

Some  Christians  say  they  lose  sight  of 
58 


PROOFS    OF    TRANSFER    OF    THE    SABBATH 

the  Sabbath  at  the  Resurrection,  and  do 
not  feel  certain  that  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath 
and  Christian  Sabbath  are  identical.  If 
one  should  be  in  a  park  and  see  a  deer  of 
a  certain  size,  shape  and  color  run  into  a 
thicket,  and  a  few  moments  afterwards 
should  see  a  deer  of  the  same  size,  shape 
and  color  rush  out  of  the  opposite  side  of 
the  thicket,  would  he  not  conclude  that  it 
was  the  same  deer,  especially  if  he  knew 
there  was  only  one  deer  in  the  park  ? 


59 


CHAPTER    III 

PROPHECIES  FORESHADOWING    THE    TRANS- 
FER   OF   THE    SABBATH 

npHE  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  Sat- 
urday to  Sunday  was  in  direct  fulfill- 
ment of  prophecy.  Isaiah  prophesied  that 
such  a  transfer  should  take  place.  In 
speaking  of  the  New  Creation  (Is.  65:17- 
19)  he  says :  "  For,  behold,  I  create  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth :  and  the  former 
shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into 
mind."  The  (Jewish)  Sabbath  was  the 
memorial  day  set  apart  for  the  commemor- 
ation of  the  work  of  creation.  The  proph- 
et says  that  this  Sabbath  day  shall  cease 
to  be  kept,  for  the  old  creation  **  shall  not 
be  remembered  nor  come  into  mind."    The 

new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  spoken 
60 


PROPHECIES   FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

of  by  the  prophet,  is  a  spiritual  creation, 
for  he  says:  **  Behold,  I  create  Jerusalem 
a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy."  The 
old  creation  should  fade  away  in  the 
brighter  light  of  the  new  creation,  as  the 
stars  fade  out  in  the  light  of  the  rising  sun, 
and  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath,  the  me- 
morial of  the  work  of  creation,  from  Sat- 
urday to  Sunday,  would  indicate  that  this 
prophecy  has  been  fulfilled. 

That  important  movements  would  nat- 
urally take  place  at  the  time  of  the  P.esur- 
rection  was  indicated  by  the  apostle  when 
he  speaks  of  the  power  (SuVa/xt?)  of  Christ's 
Resurrection.  This  was  a  crisis  when  the 
power  of  death  was  broken. 

In  nature  there  have  been  profound 
movements.  Geology  teaches  that  transi- 
tions have  occurred  in  the  earth's  crust 
from  the  earliest  geological  times.     The 

larger  part  probably  were  operative  over 

r  6i 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

long  periods  and  effected  slow  changes  in 
the  ocean  level,  but  produced  more  or  less 
exterminations  among  living  species.  Thus 
in  passing  from  layer  to  layer  in  the  rocks 
one  or  more  species  became  extinct,  with 
a  corresponding  introduction,  under  the 
laws  of  evolution,  of  new  species.  At  the 
beginning  of  an  epoch  many  new  species 
would  appear,  and  at  the  commencement 
of  a  period,  a  whole  fauna. 

At  longer  intervals,  greater  convulsions 
have  occurred  in  nature.  The  course  of 
nature  seems,  at  times,  to  have  completed 
a  cycle,  terminating  in  a  profound  move- 
ment. These  more  violent  transitions,  or 
unfolding  by  internal  forces,  do  not  imply 
a  retrogression,  but  a  new  birth,  an  exter- 
mination of  life,  perhaps  an  extinction  of 
former  races,  but  an  introduction  of  higher 
and  better  forms  of  life.     Such  transitions 

have  always  resulted  in  an  improved  con- 
62 


PROPHECIES   FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

dition  of  things  on  the  earth,  higher  and 
more  perfect  organizations  having  sprung 
into  being.  Geological  history  has  thus 
been  a  periodical  unfolding  from  the  lower, 
more  elementary  and  imperfect  towards 
the  higher  forms  of  life. 

In  a  similar  manner,  the  transition  from 
Jewish  to  Christian  economy  was  dynamic, 
and  marked  by  great  changes  in  the  spirit- 
ual world.  There  was  a  great  earthquake, 
when  the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended 
from  heaven.  In  the  divine  economy 
there  was  a  movement  that  introduced  a 
new  order  of  things.  The  Passover  ceased 
to  be  observed,  and  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
instituted.  Circumcision  passed  away,  and 
baptism  became  the  seal  of  the  new  cove- 
nant. The  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in 
twain,  and  the  Shekinah,  the  visible  symbol 
of  the   divine   presence,   was  withdrawn. 

The  middle  wall  of  partition  was  broken 
63 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

down,  and  those  who  had  been  trained  as 
spiritual  guides  went  out  to  become  the 
teachers  of  the  whole  world.  The  temple 
itself  was  to  be  destroyed  with  the  holy 
city,  Antioch  was  to  become  the  mother 
city  to  the  Gentiles,  and  Judaism  was  to 
pass  away.  The  loosening  and  displace- 
ment of  the  Sabbath,  this  segment  of  time 
for  rest  and  worship,  in  such  a  great  up- 
heaval of  things  terrestrial  and  spiritual, 
as  took  place  at  the  Resurrection,  and  its 
transfer  to  another  place,  or  secular  day, 
to  put  it  in  harmony  with  the  new  order  of 
things,  free  it  from  the  asperities  of  Juda- 
ism, and  mellow  it  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  would  be  most  reasonable.  Under 
the  Jewish  economy  the  Sabbath  was  ob- 
served with  strictness,  a  requirement  neces- 
sary for  a  people  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
national   development.     On   the   Sabbath 

there   was   a   special   burnt   offering,   the 
64 


PROPHECIES   POPESHAD OWING    TRANSFER 

show-bread  was  renewed,  deliberate  prof- 
anation of  the  Sabbath  was  punished  with 
death,  the  Jews  cooked  their  food  for  the 
Sabbath  on  the  previous  day,  they  could 
not  leave  the  camp  in  the  wilderness  on 
the  Sabbath  and  never  go  beyond  a  Sab- 
bath day's  journey,  and  marketing  and 
public  trade  were  prohibited.  But  the 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  when  all  power  was 
given  him  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  trans- 
ferred the  Sabbath  at  the  Resurrection 
from  Saturday  to  Sunday,  in  the  unfolding 
economies  of  grace,  and  put  it  in  harmony 
with  the  new  order  of  things.  Dr.  Philip 
Schaff,  in  his  ''History  of  the  Christian 
Church"  (v.  i,  p.  478),  says:  "The  day  ^ 
[Sabbath]  was  transferred  from  the  sev- 
enth to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  not  on 
the  ground  of  a  particular  command,  but 
by  the  free  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and  by 

the  power  of  certain  great  facts  which  lie 
5  65 


\ 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

at  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  Church." 
This  transfer  was  in  direct  fulfillment  of 
prophecy,  when  God  declared,  "  Behold, 
I  create  all  things  new." 

In  Ps.  1 18  :  19-29,  there  is  a  remarkable 
prophecy  in  regard  to  the  transfer  of  the 
Sabbath.  The  psalmist  is  in  an  ecstatic, 
spiritual  mood,  and  opens  the  psalm  with 
repeated  expressions  of  thanksgiving  to 
the  Lord,  because  his  mercy  endureth  for- 
ever. The  Lord  had  set  the  psalmist  in  a 
large  place,  where  there  was  room  to  give 
him  an  abundant  answer.  The  hostile 
nations  had  compassed  him  like  bees,  but 
they  had  been  quenched  like  the  fire  of 
thorns.  Holy  light  seems  to  break  upon 
the  psalmist,  and  he  feels  that  he  must 
worship  the  Lord.  He  turns  his  face  to- 
wards the  sanctuary  to  pour  out  his  heart 
in  thanksgiving.  **  Open  to  me,'*  he  says, 
'*  the  gates  of  righteousness  :  I  will  go  into 


PROPHECIES   FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

them,  and  I  will  praise  the  Lord."     As  he 

looks  about,  the  place  evidently  seems  a 

little  strange  to  him,  but  he  realizes  that  it 

is  the  ''gate  of  the  Lord,"  for  the  Lord 

hears  him,  and  has  become  his  salvation. 

Suddenly  the   light  of  the   Resurrection 

morn  breaks  over  him,  and  with  prophetic 

vision  he  exclaims  :  *'  The  stone  which  the 

builders  refused  is  become  the  head  stone 

of  the  corner."    As  a  Jew  he  is  filled  with 

wonder  to  find  himself  worshiping  on  a 

new  holy  day,  but  he  says,   **this  is  the 

Lord's  doing  ;  this  is  the  day  the  Lord  hath 

made  ;  it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes."     The 

Lord  made  all  days,  but  this  was  a  special 

day  which  he  had  consecrated  and  made 

holy.     It  was  the  day  on  which  the  people 

would   enter  the  gates  of  righteousness 

and  praise  the  Lord.     It  was  the  day  on 

which  the  Lord  would  send  prosperity,  and 

he  says,  "  we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it," 
67 


,  THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

as  Christ  bids  the  women  ^*all  hail,"  or  to 
rejoice  on  the  Resurrection  morn.  The 
psalmist  speaks  as  we  would  suppose  an 
Israelite  would  express  himself,  under  the 
Christian  dispensation,  and  says  :  **  Mighty 
is  Jehovah,  and  hath  given  light  to  us. 
Bind  the  sacrifice  with  cords  as  far  as  the 
horns  of  the  altar."  In  prophetic  vision 
Jehovah  had  turned  the  night  of  Israel  into 
day,  and  the  psalmist  sees  the  pillar  of  fire 
in  the  wilderness.  This  was  the  Resur- 
rection day,  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which 
the  psalmist  saw  in  vision,  and  he  closes 
the  psalm  as  he  began  it,  with  thanksgiving 
to  the  Lord  for  his  mercy  endureth  forever. 
1 1  On  the  day  of  the  Resurrection,  Christ 
/  appeared  five  times  to  his  disciples  and  to 
ithe  holy  women.  On  the  next  Saturday, 
!  the  Jemsh  day  for  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  under  the  law,  he  did  not  appear 

to  any  one,  but  ''after  eight  days,"  on  the 
6S 


PROPHECIES   FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

Lord's  Day,  he  appeared  to  his  disciples  in 
the  upper  room,  Thomas  being  with  them. 
Why  did  the  risen  Savior  cease  to  observe 
the  Sabbath  on  Saturday,  to  meet  with  his 
disciples,  and  give  them  an  opportunity  to 
come  into  his  immediate  and  sensible  pres- 
ence to  worship  him,  and  meet  them  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  if  the  Sabbath  had  not  been 
transferred  at  the  Resurrection  from  Satur- 
day to  Sunday  ? 

Marvelous  is  the  fact  that  any  Christian 
should  now  observe  the  Sabbath  on  Satur- 
day, as  the  Jews  did  under  the  law.  The 
Sabbath  has  always  been  a  Christian  festi- 
val, and  the  psalmist  says  that  we  should 
"rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it."  Traditionally 
Christ  was  crucified  on  Friday,  and  His 
body  lay  in  the  grave  on  Saturday,  the  day 
for  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  under 
the  Jewish  economy.     On  Saturday  His 

enemies   triumphed   over  Him,  and   this 
69 


'    THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

season  must  demand  humiliation  and 
mourning  rather  than  rejoicing.  But  when 
He  rose  from  the  dead,  and  met  the  holy 
women,  He  told  them  to  rejoice.  The 
character  of  this  Christian  festival  would 
be  preserved  by  the  transfer  of  the  Sab- 
bath from  Saturday  to  Sunday,  which  was 
clearly  foreshadowed,  when  Christ  said : 
'*Can  the  children  of  the  bridechamber 
mourn,  as  long  as  the  bridegroom  is  with 
them?  but  the  days  will  come  when  the 
bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them,  and 
then  shall  they  fast." 

The  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  Satur- 
day to  Sunday  preserves  the  Institution  in 
all  its  integrity,  and  carries  with  it  the 
authority  of  Jehovah,  who  ordained  and 
hallowed  it.  The  Sabbath  under  all  dis- 
pensations is  identical,  one  and  the  same, 
one-seventh  of  the  time  set  apart  for  rest 

and  worship,  ordained  at  the  creation  of 
70 


PROPHECIES   FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

the  world  and  redolent  with  the  aroma  of 
Paradise,  promulgated  formally  in  the 
Moral  Law  on  Mount  Sinai,  transferred  at 
the  Resurrection,  and  made  holy  and  glori- 
ous under  both  covenants.  This  holy 
season  for  rest  and  worship,  hoary  with 
age,  in  being  observed  one  day  in  seven, 
brings  to  remembrance  the  time  when  the 
heavens  and  earth  were  finished,  and  "the 
morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."  Abraham, 
the  friend  of  God,  as  he  sat  in  his  tent-door, 
saw  the  light  of  this  sacred  day  break  over 
the  eastern  hills,  and  all  the  patriarchs  in 
their  generations  remembered  to  keep  it 
holy.  The  Fourth  Commandment  was 
written  twice  by  the  finger  of  God,  and 
given  to  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  when 
"  Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke, 
because  the  Lord  descended  upon  it  in  fire, 

and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended  as  the 
71 


'  THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount 
quaked  greatly."  In  the  wilderness  the 
children  of  Israel  on  the  day  previous  to 
the  Sabbath  gathered  twice  as  much  manna 
as  on  other  days,  which  kept  over  the  Sab- 
bath, and  a  golden  pot  of  manna  was  laid 
up  before  the  Lord  to  be  kept  for  their  gen- 
erations. As  the  centuries  unfolded  in  Jew- 
ish history,  how  often  has  the  light  of  this 
blessed  day  broken  over  the  holy  city,  and 
revealed  the  smoke  of  the  special  sacrifice 
typical  of  the  **Lamb  slain  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world."  As  the  morning  light 
of  this  sacred  day  trembled  along  the  crags 
of  Mount  Carmel,  Elijah  has  doubtless 
stood  in  the  entrance  of  his  cave,  with  his 
mantle  wrapped  about  his  face,  and  wor- 
shiped times  without  number,  until  he  went 
up  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire.  All 
earthly  scenes  pale  in  the  supernal  light 

which  broke  over  the  earth  when  the  angel, 
72 


PROPHECIES   FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

whose  "countenance  was  like  lightning, 
and  his  raiment  white  as  snow,"  descended 
from  heaven  and  rolled  back  the  stone 
from  the  door  of  the  sepulcher,  and  the 
Lord  of  life  laid  aside  the  habiliments  of 
death,  and  on  this  holy  day  came  forth  as 
a  Mighty  Conqueror.  On  this  day  cloven 
tongues  like  as  of  fire  sat  upon  the  heads 
of  the  disciples,  and  the  Gospel  was  mirac- 
ulously preached  in  all  languages,  and 
to  all  people  out  of  every  nation  under 
heaven. 

If  the  sun  every  seventh  day  yielded 
some  sweet  influence  not  manifested  in  its 
ordinary  rays,  but  after  some  conjunction 
of  the  celestial  orbs,  poured  forth  the  same 
influence  on  another  day  of  the  week, 
would  not  men  receive  the  blessed  influ- 
ence without  regard  to  the  previous  day  of 
the  week  on  which  it  had  been  shed  forth, 

and  would  they  not  be  thankful  ?    If  nature 
73 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

should  distill  a  more  copious  dew  on  some 
particular  night  of  the  week,  but,  after  some 
secular  change  in  nature,  transferred  this 
heavy  dew-fall  to  another  night  of  the 
week,  would  not  men  in  arid  countries  be 
glad  to  have  suffering  vegetation  refreshed 
without  regard  to  the  night  of  the  week  on 
which  the  dew  had  previously  fallen  ?  Do 
not  men  need  the  spiritual  influence  of  the 
Sabbath,  the  dew  of  Hermon,  even  the 
dew  that  descended  on  the  mountains  of 
Zion,  so  much  over  vast  regions  of  this 
world,  parched  and  withered  under  the 
baleful  influences  of  sin,  that  they  might 
disregard  the  particular  day  of  the  week  on 
which  the  heavenly  influences  descended 
under  some  former  economy,  and  pray 
that,  **the  windows  of  heaven  might  be 
opened"  in  God's  own  time,  and  a  blessing 
be  poured  out  that  there  should  not  be 

room  enough  to  receive  it  ?    The  Sabbath 

74 


PROPHECIES    FORESHADOWING    TRANSFER 

may  be  compared  to  a  mighty,  continu- 
ously flowing  river,  whose  unobstructed 
waters  pour  through  all  dispensations,  and 
bear  on  their  bosom  the  most  precious 
gifts  of  God.  And  this  is  the  "river,  the 
streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the  city 
of  God,"  and  this  river  of  God  shall  flow 
on  forevermore  increasing  in  volume  and 
power  until  the  holy  light  of  the  Sabbath 
shall  shine  into  every  home  on  earth,  and 
gladden  every  heart,  and  be  merged  at 
last  into  the  light  of  heaven. 


75 


CHAPTER    IV 

PRACTICE    OF   EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

npHE  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  at  the 
Resurrection  gives  the  world,  in  the 
Sabbath,  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the 
crowninof  miracle  of  Christ's  work  as  the 
Redeemer  of  men.  Standing  at  the  grave 
of  one  whom  He  had  loved,  Christ  declared 
that  He  was  the  Resurrection  and  the 
life,  and  at  His  command  ''he  that  was 
dead  came  forth  bound  hand  and  foot 
with  graveclothes."  The  Resurrection,  the 
divine  seal  that  Christ  was  the  Messiah 
and  the  pledge  of  the  general  Resurrec- 
tion at  the  last  day,  is  a  vital  truth  in 
Christianity  that  overshadows  other  truths. 

Paul  says  ''if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is 
76 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANS 

our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also 
vain."  Without  the  Resurrection  death 
would  be  an  extinction  of  hopes,  and  no 
disembodied  spirit  could  be  rehabilitated 
and  be  made  perfect.  The  Christian 
Church  rests  on  this  pivotal  fact  of  the 
Resurrection,  which  is  as  well  established 
as  any  fact  in  Jewish  history.  A  man  could 
just  as  reasonably  deny  the  exodus  or  the 
captivity  of  the  Jews,  or  the  existence  of 
Herod  the  Great,  as  to  deny  the  Cruci- 
fixion and  Resurrection  of  Christ.  How 
natural  that  Christians  should  be  given  a 
perpetual  memorial,  that  Christ  in  His 
Resurrection  should  enable  man  to  say, 
"O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory  ?  "  Should  not  every 
follower  of  Christ,  who  rejoices  in  His 
Resurrection,  delight  also  in  observing  the 
Lord's  Day  as  a  memorial  of  His  power 

over  death,  the  last  enemy  of  man  ? 

77 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

The  New  Testament  affords  us  abund- 
ant evidence  of  the  transfer  of  the  Sab- 
bath at  the  Resurrection,  and  this  evidence 
is  confirmed  and  strengthened  by  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week  by  the  risen  Savior,  and  by 
inspired  apostles  and  early  Christians.  In 
the  divine  economy  the  transfer  of  the 
Sabbath  on  the  Resurrection  morning 
doubtless  came  at  the  moment  that  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead,  but  the  knowledge  of 
this  fact  dawned  gradually  on  the  Chris- 
tian world  like  the  light  of  a  new  day.  The 
sun  does  not  rise  with  a  single  bound,  but 
the  first  glimmer  of  light  in  the  east  deep- 
ens almost  imperceptibly  until  the  heavens 
are  on  fire,  and  the  full-orbed  sun  lifts 
itself  slowly  above  the  horizon  to  flood  the 
world  with  light.  Sabbath  evolution,  as 
known  to  man,  was  very  gradual,  not  pro- 
voking opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Jews, 
78 


/ 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

who  were  intensely  prejudiced  in  favor  of 
Judaism. 

As  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  did  not 
take  place  until  the  moment  of  the  Resur- 
rection,  naturally  no  express  command!^ 
would  be  given  in  regard  to  it  by  the\ 
Savior,  but  it  was  probably  included  in  the 
''many  things"  that  Christ  desired  to  say 
unto  his  disciples,  which  he  affirmed  they 
could  not  bear  at  that  time.  The  observ- 
ance of  the  Christian  Sabbath  by  the  risen 
Lord,  and  the  example  of  inspired  men  in 
keeping  this  holy  day,  is  as  conclusive  of 
the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  as  if  a  direct 
command  had  been  given.  The  example 
of  inspired  men  in  obeying  the  moral  law, 
or  in  observing  the  ceremonial  law,  is  as 
conclusive  in  regard  to  what  they  believe, 
as  the  precepts  which  they  may  utter. 
The  example  of  a   Christian  minister  in 

living  a  strictly  upright  and  honest  life  is 
79 


.     THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

more  powerful  with  men  than  any  precepts 
which  may  be  given  in  his  public  teaching. 
Inspired  men  naturally  pursued  a  peaceful 
method  in  bringing  about  a  general  observ- 
ance of  the  Christian  Sabbath  that  would 
not  provoke  opposition.  Jewish  Christians 
continued  to  observe  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath 
until  Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  and  many 
of  the  Jews  continued  to  meet  with  them 
and  worship  on  the  Lord's  Day.  The 
Jews  continued  to  be  circumcised,  but 
many  were  willing  to  be  baptized.  The 
Jews  still  kept  the  Passover,  but  many 
were  willing  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. Christians  still  prayed  in  the  temple 
and  in  the  synagogues,  and  many  Jews 
would  mingle  with  them  in  Christian  assem- 
blies, in  their  homes  and  in  the  fields.  In 
this  manner  the  Christian  Sabbath  came 
into  observance  without  serious  opposi- 
tion, until  it  became  generally  established 
So 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANS 

wherever  Christ  was  worshiped  as  the 
risen  Lord. 

Dr.  Philip  Schafif,  that  most  eminent 
Christian  scholar  ("  History  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,"  pp.  478-9),  says : 

"The  universal  and  uncontradicted  Sun- 
day observance  in  the  second  century  can 
be  explained  only  by  the  fact  that  it  had 
its  roots  in  apostolic  practice.  Such  ob- 
servance is  the  more  to  be  appreciated  as 
it  had  no  support  in  civil  legislation  before 
the  age  of  Constantine,  and  must  have 
been  connected  with  many  inconveniences, 
considering  the  lowly  social  condition  of 
the  majority  of  Christians  and  their  de- 
pendence upon  their  heathen  masters  and 
employers.  Sunday  thus  became,  by  an 
easy  and  natural  transformation,  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath  or  weekly  day  of  rest,  at 
once  answering  the  typical  import  of  the 

Jewish  Sabbath,  and  itself  forming  in  turn 
6  3i 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

a  type  of  the  eternal  rest  of  the  people  of 
God  in  the  heavenly  Canaan.  In  the  gos- 
pel dispensation  the  Sabbath  is  not  a  deg- 
radation, but  an  elevation,  of  the  week- 
days to  a  higher  plane,  looking  to  the 
consecration  of  all  time  and  all  work.  It 
is  not  a  legal  ceremonial  bondage,  but 
rather  a  precious  gift  of  grace,  a  privilege, 
a  holy  rest  in  God  in  the  midst  of  the 
unrest  of  the  world,  a  day  of  spiritual 
refreshing  in  communion  with  God  and  in 
fellowship  of  the  saints,  a  foretaste  and 
pledge  of  the  never-ending  Sabbath  in 
heaven. 

''  The  due  observance  of  it,  in  which  the 
churches  of  England,  Scotland  and  Amer- 
ica, to  their  incalculable  advantage,  excel 
the  churches  of  the  European  continent, 
is  a  wholesome  school  of  discipline,  a 
means  of  grace  for  the  people,  a  safeguard 
of  public  morality  and  religion,  a  bulwark 

82 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANS 

against  infidelity,  and  a  source  of  immeas- 
urable blessing  to  the  church,  the  state, 
and  the  family.  Next  to  the  Church  and 
the  Bible,  the  Lord's  Day  is  the  chief  pillar 
of  Christian  society." 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  risen  Lord 
observed  the  Christian  Sabbath,  meeting 
with  his  disciples,  and  with  the  holy  women 
five  times  on  the  day  of  the  Resurrection. 
On  the  next  (Jewish)  Sabbath,  he  did  not 
appear  to  anyone,  a  fact  which  can  be 
explained  only  on  the  ground  that  Satur- 
day, in  the  divine  economy,  had  ceased  to  / 
be  the  day  of  the  week  on  which  the  Sab-' 
bath  was  to  be  observed,  after  the  Resur- 
rection. 

** After  eight  days,"  John  says,  ** again 

his  disciples  were  within,  and  Thomas  with 

them  :  then  came  Jesus,  the  doors  being 

shut,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  said, 

Peace  be  unto  you."     Christ  thus  gave   '^ 
83 


,  THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

divine  authority  for  the  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week. 

We  have  already  seen  that  about  twelve 
years  after  the  Resurrection,  there  was  a 
Christian  Sabbath  (Acts  13)  observed  at 
Antioch,  Pisidia,  by  Gentile  converts,  and 
that  this  following  Sabbath  was  between 
the  (Jewish)  Sabbaths  and  near  at  hand. 
On  that  day  called  a  Sabbath,  we  read 
that  almost  the  whole  city  of  Antioch  came 
together  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  and 
Paul  and  Barnabas  preached  to  them.  And 
when  the  Gentiles  heard  the  words  of  the 
apostles,  ''they  were  glad,  and  glorified 
the  word  of  the  Lord :  and  as  many  as 
were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed." 

About  twenty-six  years  after  the  Resur- 
rection, Luke  says  (Acts  20:7),  ''Upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week  [on  one  of  the 

Sabbaths],  when   the   disciples  came  to- 
84 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

gether  [at  Troas]  to  break  bread,  Paul 
preached  to  them,  ready  to  depart  on  the 
morrow." 

About  sixty-three  years  after  the  Resur- 
rection, John  the  Beloved  says  (Rev.  i  : 
lo),  *'I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's 
day,  and  I  heard  behind  me  a  great  voice, 
as  of  a  trumpet."  The  Holy  Spirit  thus 
came  upon  the  beloved  disciple,  on  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  when  a  wonderful  reve- 
lation of  things  about  to  come  to  pass  was 
given  to  him, — a  revelation  that  imparts  to 
the  world  nearly  all  that  is  known  of  those 
mighty  events  that  shall  take  place  towards 
the  close  of  the  Christian  dispensation, 
and  when  time  shall  be  no  more. 

Justin  Martyr,  who  lived  at  the  close  of 

the  first  and  the  beginning  of  the  second 

century,   says  :    ''And  on  the   day  called 

Sunday,  all  who  live  in  cities,  or  in  the 

country,  gather  together  to  one  place,  and 
85 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

the  memoirs  of  the  apostles  or  the  writings 

of  the  prophets  are  read,  as  long  as  time 

permits  ;  then,  when  the  reader  has  ceased, 

the  president  verbally  instructs  and  exhorts 

jto   the   imitation    of  these    good   things. 

Then  we  all  rise  together  and  pray,  and, 

las   we   before   said,  when   our  prayer  is 

/  ended,    bread  and   wine   and    water  are 

j  brought,  and  the  president  in  like  manner 

offers  prayers  and  thanksgivings,  accord- 

I  ing  to  his  ability,  and  the  people  assent, 

'  saying,  Amen  ;  and  there  is  a  distribution 

to  each,  and  a  participation  of  that  over 

which   thanks   have   been   given,    and   to 

those  who  are  absent  a  portion  is  sent  by 

the  deacons.     And  they  who  are  well  to 

do,  and  willing,  give  what  each  thinks  fit  ; 

and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with  the 

president,  who  succors  the  orphans  and 

widows,  and  those  who,  through  sickness, 

or  any  other  cause,  are  in  want,  and  those 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANS 

who  are  in  bonds,  and  the  strangers 
sojourning  among  us,  and,  in  a  word,  takes 
care  of  all  who  are  in  need.  But  Sunday 
is  the  day  on  which  we  all  hold  common 
assembly,  because  it  is  the  first  day  on 
which  God,  having  wrought  a  change  in 
the  darkness  and  matter,  made  the  world ; 
and  Jesus  Christ,  our  Savior,  on  the  same 
day  rose  from  the  dead.  For  he  was  cru- 
cified on  the  day  before  that  of  Saturn 
[Saturday]  ;  and  on  the  day  after  that  of 
Saturn,  which  is  the  day  of  the  sun,  having 
appeared  to  his  apostles  and  disciples,  he 
taught  them  these  things,  which  we  have 
submitted  to  you  also  for  your  considera- 
tion.'' (The  First  Apology  of  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, chapter  LXVII.)  It  is  true  that  Justin 
Martyr  does  not  call  Sunday  the  Sabbath, 
or  the  Lord's  Day,  but  he  was  writing  to  a 
heathen  emperor  who  was  ignorant  of  the 

meaning  of  these  terms. 
37 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

Barnabas  says:  ''We  keep  the  eighth 
day  with  joyfulness,  the  day  also  on  which 
Jesus  rose  again  from  the  dead."  (Chapter 
XVII.) 

*'The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,"  which 
was  probably  written  not  more  than  forty 
years  after  the  death  of  the  apostle  John, 
says :  "But  every  Lord's  Day  do  ye  gather 
yourselves  together,  and  break  bread  and 
give  thanksgiving,"  etc.  ("Teaching  of  the 
Apostles,"  chapter  XIV.) 

TertuUian,  who  was  born  at  Carthage, 
about  A.  D.  1 50  or  1 60,  was  the  first  great 
writer  of  Latin  Christianity.  Very  little  is 
known  of  his  personal  life,  but  he  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  original  and  exalted 
characters  of  the  ancient  church.  In  his 
works  he  speaks  of  the  Lord's  Day  as  a 
Christian  solemnity. 

Dionysius,  who  became  Bishop  of  Cor- 
inth, A.  D.  170,  says:   "We  passed  this 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANS 

holy  Lord's  Day,  in  which  we  read  your 
letter,  from  the  constant  reading  of  which 
we  shall  be  able  to  draw  admonition." 
(Eusebius,  Eccl.  History,  book  4,  chapter 
XXIII.) 

The  testimony  of  Irenaeus,  Bishop  of 
Lyons,  who  lived  in  the  second  century, 
has  great  weight  on  this  subject.  He 
probably  passed  his  youth  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Smyrna,  Asia  Minor,  and  was  the 
child  of  Christian  parents.  His  testimony 
is  extremely  valuable,  because  he  was  the 
disciple  of  Polycarp,  who  was  the  disciple 
of  John  the  Beloved.  In  his  letter  to  Flo- 
rinus,  Irenaeus  says  : 

"I  saw  you  when  I  was  yet,  as  a  boy, 

in  Lower  Asia  with  Polycarp.     ...    I 

could  even  now  point  out  the  place  where 

the  blessed  Polycarp  sat  and  spoke,  and 

describe  his  going  out  and  coming  in,  his 

manner  of  life,  his  personal  appearance, 
89 


.  THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

the  addresses  he  delivered  to  the  multitude, 
how  he  spoke  of  his  intercourse  with  John, 
and  with  the  others  who  had  seen  the  Lord, 
and  how  he  recalled  their  words.  And 
everything  that  he  had  heard  from  them 
about  the  Lord,  about  His  miracles  and 
His  teaching,  Polycarp  told  us,  as  one  who 
had  received  it  from  those  who  had  seen 
the  Word  of  Life  with  their  own  eyes,  and 
all  this  in  complete  harmony  with  the  Scrip- 
tures. To  this  I  then  listened,  through  the 
mercy  of  God  vouchsafed  to  me,  with  all 
eagerness,  and  wrote  it  not  on  paper,  but 
in  my  heart,  and  still  by  the  grace  of  God, 
I  ever  bring  it  into  fresh  remembrance." 
(Ap.  Euseb.,  H.  E.,  v.  20.) 

These  are  golden  words,  establishing  a 
chain  of  tradition  without  a  parallel  in  eccle- 
siastical history — Jesus,  John,  Polycarp, 
Irenaeus.     Here   is   a    traditional   stream 

which  flows  from  Christ,  the  fountain  of 
90 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

all  truth.  What  testimony  has  Irenaeus, 
the  eminent  and  learned  Bishop  of  Lyons, 
France,  who,  after  Polycarp,  is  considered 
the  most  faithful  representative  of  the 
Johannean  school,  who  uses  the  terms 
*' Logos"  and  ''Son  of  God"  interchange- 
ably, and  keeps  more  within  the  limits  of 
the  simple  Bible  statements  than  any  of 
his  contemporaries  ?  Irenaeus  says  :  "■  On 
the  Lord's  Day  every  one  of  us.  Christians, 
keep  the  Sabbath,  meditating  in  the  law," 
or  Scriptures,  ''and  rejoicing  in  the  works 
of  God." 

Clement,  of  Alexandria,  who  was  born 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the 
Christian  fathers.  Living  at  the  very  cen- 
ter of  the  learning  of  his  age,  and  residing 
a  portion  of  his  life  at  Jerusalem,  when 
driven  away  from  Alexandria  by  persecu- 
tion, he  had  every  opportunity  to  know  all 
91 


s^ 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

the  facts  in  regard  to  the  sacred  days  of 
the  Jews.  He  says  :  '*  He,  in  fulfillment 
of  the  precept,  keeps  the  Lord's  Day 
when  he  abandons  an  evil  disposition,  and 
assumes  that  of  the  Gnostic,  glorifying  the 
Lord's  resurrection  in  himself"  (Book  7, 
chapter  XII.) 

Origen,  a  man  of  great  erudition,  who 
was  born  A.  D.  185  or  186,  says  :  *'  If  it  be 
objected  to  us  on  this  subject  that  we  our- 
selves are  accustomed  to  observe  certain 
days,  as,  for  example,  the  Lord's  Day,  the 
preparation,  the  passover,  or  pentecost." 
(Origen  against  Celsus,  book  8,  chapter 
XXII.)  This  clearly  shows  that  Origen 
observed  the  Lord's  Day. 

Anatolius,  Bishop  of  Laodicea,  who  was 
born  about  A.  D.  230,  says  :  **The  obliga- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Resurrection  binds  us  to 
keep  the  paschal  festival  on  the  Lord's 

Day.*'     "The  solemn  festival  of  the  Res- 
92 


PRACTICE    OF   EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

urrection  of  the  Lord  can  be  celebrated 
only  on  the  Lord's  Day."  '*  Our  regard 
for  the  Lord's  Resurrection  which  took 
place  on  the  Lord's  Day  will  lead  us  to 
celebrate  it  on  the  same  principle." 

Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Caesarea,  who  was 
born  in  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century, 
was  a  man  thoroughly  qualified  to  know 
all  the  facts  about  the  sacred  days  of  the 
Jews.  He  was  born  in  Palestine,  where 
Christ  and  the  Apostles  labored,  studied 
at  Antioch,  where  Paul  labored  for  years, 
traveled  in  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  and 
bears  the  title  of  '*  Father  of  Church  His- 
tory," having  written  the  first  history  of 
the  Christian  Church.  He  says  on  the 
ninety-second  Psalm  :  *'  The  Word  by  the 
new  covenant  translated  and  transferred 
the  feast  of  the  Sabbath  to  the  morning 
light  and  gave  us  the  true  rest,  viz.,  the 

saving  Lord's  Day."     ''  On  this  day,  which 
93 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

is  the  first  of  light  and  of  the  true  sun,  we 
assemble,  after  an  interval  of  six  days,  and 
celebrate  holy  and  spiritual  Sabbaths,  even 
all  nations  redeemed  by  him  throughout 
the  world,  and  do  those  things  according 
to  the  spiritual  law  which  were  decreed  for 
the  priests  to  do  on  the  Sabbath."  **And 
all  things  whatsoever  that  it  was  the  duty 
to  do  on  the  Sabbath,  these  we  have  trans- 
ferred to  the  Lord's  Day  as  more  honor- 
able than  the  Jewish  Sabbath."  This  tes- 
timony of  the  "Father  of  Church  History," 
who  had  every  opportunity  to  know  all  the 
facts,  is  conclusive  that  Christians  in  his 
time  kept  the  Lord's  Day,  and  not  the 
(Jewish)  Sabbath. 

Petavius,  who  was  born  at  Orleans,  in 
1583,  was  the  most  celebrated  writer  of 
the  past  Tridentine  age.  He  says  that 
*'but  one  Lord's  Day  was  observed  in  the 

earliest  times  of  the  Church." 
94 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

The  testimony  of  the  early  Christians 
is  expHcit  and  convincing  that  after  the 
Resurrection  the  Sabbath  was  observed 
on  Sunday,  and  this  proof  is  strengthened 
by  the  testimony  of  the  writings  of  the 
most  celebrated  men  for  centuries  in  the 
ancient  church.  We  have  seen  that  the 
risen  Lord  met  with  his  disciples  on  this 
day,  the  apostles  continued  to  observe  it, 
and  the  early  Christians  became  almost 
unanimous  in  keeping  the  Sabbath  for  rest 
and  worship  on  Sunday.  Sunday  observ- 
ance has  become  like  a  mighty  river  pour- 
ing its  waters  through  all  Christian  lands. 
To  go  back  and  observe  the  Sabbath  on 
Saturday  would  seem  like  going  back  to 
Judaism ;  not  receiving  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  the  Word  of  God  ;  giving  up  the 
New  Testament  seal  of  the  covenant,  and 
returning  to  circumcision,  the  ancient  seal 

of  the  covenant  of  the  righteousness  by 
95 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

faith ;  or  like  offering  burnt  sacrifices  for 
sins,  when  the  crucified  Christ  is  ''the  Lamb 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

The  Sabbath  is  so  necessary  to  the  wel- 
fare of  a  nation  as  a  time  for  rest  and 
worship,  and  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
Day  became  so  prevalent  in  the  fourth 
century  that  laws  were  enacted  by  Con- 
stantine,  the  first  Christian  Emperor  (321 
A.  D.),  recognizing  the  observance  of  Sun- 
day as  a  legal  duty,  and  enacting  that  all 
courts  of  justice,  inhabitants  of  towns,  and 
workshops,  were  to  be  at  rest  on  Sunday 
(venerabili  die  Solis\  with  the  exception 
of  those  who  were  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  Pleasure  was  forbidden  on  the 
Lord's  Day  (die  dominico),  as  well  as  busi- 
ness, and  no  spectacle  was  to  be  exhibited 
in  a  theater  or  circus.  Should  the  birthday 
of  the  Emperor  fall  on  Sunday,  the  cele- 
bration of  it  was  to  be  postponed. 
96 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

In  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church, 
God  has  manifested  his  presence  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  since  the  days  of  Pentecost, 
in  a  wonderful  manner.  The  apostle  says 
(Heb.  4  :  9),  "There  remaineth  therefore  a 
rest  [cra^^aricr/xd?]  to  the  people  of  God." 
This  word  translated  **rest"  is  significant, 
and  evidently  means  that  in  the  Christian 
Church  there  is  a  Sabbath  founded  on  the 
fact  that  Christ  rested  from  his  work  of 
redemption,  as  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  was 
established  on  the  fact  that  God  rested  on 
the  seventh  day  from  the  work  of  creation. 
It  must  be  evident,  to  every  careful  student 
of  the  Sacred  Word,  that  this  "rest" 
spoken  of  is  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which 
the  apostle  uses  as  a  type  of  the  eternal 
rest  in  heaven. 

Since  the   day  of  Pentecost,   God   has 

been  witnessing  by  the  outpouring  of  the 

Holy  Spirit  that  the  Lord's   Day  is   the 
7  97 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

Sabbath  of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  and 
that  worship  on  this  holy  day  is  well  pleas- 
ing in  his  sight.  He  who  changeth  **the 
times  and  the  seasons,"  and  blotteth  out 
sins  ''when  the  times  of  refreshing  shall 
come  from  the  Lord,"  has  graciously  chosen 
this  day  which  commemorates  the  Resur- 
rection of  his  Son,  as  the  time  to  send  out 
his  Spirit  "from  heaven  as  of  a  rushing 
mighty  wind,"  to  cause  cloven  tongues  like 
as  of  fire  to  sit  upon  his  disciples,  to  fill 
them  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  cause  them  to 
speak  with  other  tongues  in  proclaiming 
the  Gospel  to  all  nations  under  heaven,  as 
the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance,  and  to  blot 
out  the  sins  of  his  people. 

He  who  ordained  the  Sabbath  at  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  formally  pro- 
mulgated the  law  of  the  Sabbath  on  Mount 
Sinai  amidst  thunders  and  lightnings  which 

made  the  mountain  tremble,  could  not  be 
98 


PRACTICE    OF  EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

pleased  by  the  substitution  of  another  day, 
on  which  the  Sabbath  is  observed,  without 
his  approval.  He  who  declares  that  he  is 
a  jealous  God,  and  will  not  give  his  honor 
to  another,  who  has  commanded  that 
strange  fire  shall  not  be  offered  on  his 
altars,  and  when  Nadab  and  Abihu  offered 
strange  fire  before  the  Lord  caused  the 
fire  to  go  out  to  devour  them,  who  smote 
Uzza  so  that  he  died,  because  he  put  forth 
his  hand  to  hold  the  ark,  such  a  God 
would  not  be  pleased  to  have  the  Institu- 
tion of  the  Sabbath  abrogated  by  man, 
and  another  institution  set  up  by  human 
authority.  He  who  declares  that  *'if  any 
man  shall  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall 
add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are  written 
in  this  book,"  and,  "if  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this 
prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part 
out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy 
99 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

city,  and  from  the  things  which  are  written 
in  this  book,"  he  who  instituted  the  Sab- 
bath and  hallowed  it,  would  not  pour  out 
his  Spirit  as  a  divine  witness,  if  his  chosen 
people,  on  the  day  of  his  appointment,  did 
not  seek  his  face,  and  draw  nigh  to  the 
mercy  seat.  But  for  twenty  centuries  the 
heavenly  dew  has  fallen  upon  worshiping 
assemblies  on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  they 
have  received  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  signifying  that  this  is  the  sacred 
day,  the  holy  Sabbath,  under  all  covenants, 
''when  the  times  of  refreshing  shall  come 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord/' 


at  00 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    TRANSFERRED   OR   CHRISTIAN  SABBATH 

^T^HE  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  one 
day  to  another  to  commemorate  more 
important  historical  events,  and  the  modi- 
fication of  the  character  of  this  Institution 
to  suit  the  nature  of  the  covenant  under 
which  it  is  observed,  is  in  harmony  with 
the  general  law  of  development  found 
everywhere.  It  may  reasonably  be  con- 
ceded, as  indicated  by  science,  that  the 
Creator  has  evolved  the  material  universe 
from  fire  mists,  under  the  operation  of  law, 
as  the  modal  expression  of  the  divine  will. 
In  nature,  this  law  of  development  has 
been  well  established.  Evolution  is  defined 
as  continuous  progressive  change,  accord- 

lOI 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

ing  to  certain  laws,  by  means  of  resident 
forces.  Theistic  evolution  clothes  the  First 
Cause  with  personal  characteristics  as  the 
self-conscious,  intelligent  Maker  of  all 
worlds,  who  orders  all  things  according  to 
the  good  pleasure  of  his  will. 

The  most  plausible  philosophical  view 
of  the  origin  of  the  solar  system,  and  prob- 
ably of  all  stellar  systems,  is  in  accordance 
with  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  which  claims 
that  the  present  solar  system  is  the  result 
of  a  process  of  gradual  condensation  and 
evolution  from  primordial  chaotic  gaseous 
materials.  La  Place  conceived  that  the 
sun  was  originally  surrounded  by  an  atmos- 
phere, or  rather  that  the  matter  of  the  solar 
system  consisted  originally  of  a  nebula  of 
very  tenuous  matter,  that  extended  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  solar  system.  Condensa- 
tion would  take  place  by  the  loss  of  heat 
through  radiation,  and  under  the  cooling 


I02 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

and  contraction  of  the  general  mass,  rings 
would  be  separated  and  thrown  off  by  the 
centrifugal  force  from  the  nebula.  The 
matter  comprising  these  rings  would  sub- 
sequently be  aggregated  around  certain 
points,  and  break  up  into  planets  and  sat- 
ellites. This  hypothesis  strives  to  lay  a 
rational  cosmogony  of  the  solar  system, 
and  is  made  very  plausible  by  many  exist- 
ing facts,  such  as  the  elliptical  orbits  of  all 
the  planets  and  satellites,  approaching 
very  nearly  to  the  circular  form,  the  revo- 
lution of  all  the  orbs  (excepting  the  satel- 
lites of  Uranus)  being  in  the  same  direction 
around  the  sun,  the  rotation  of  all  the  orbs 
on  their  axes  being  in  the  same  direction 
from  west  to  east,  the  confinement  of  all 
the  orbs  in  their  orbits  within  a  small  dis- 
tance of  the  plane  of  the  solar  equator, 
and  the  period  of  the  orbital  and  axial  rev- 
olution of  some  of  the  satellites  being  the 
103 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

same.  Professor  Joseph  Le  Conte  affirms 
that  there  are  three  hundred  and  ninety 
coincidences  in  the  solar  system  which  are 
conformable  to  the  Nebular  Hypothesis. 
The  type  of  evolution,  as  a  law  among 
living  forms,  is  embryonic  development. 
In  the  development  of  the  ^gg  the  changes 
are  continuously  progressive,  according  to 
well-known  laws,  produced  by  vital  forces. 
From  the  microscopic  spherule  of  proto- 
plasm, living  but  unorganized,  cell  is  added 
to  cell,  tissue  to  tissue,  organism  to  organ- 
ism, and  function  to  function,  in  the  ascend- 
ing series,  which  becomes  more  complex 
through  every  stage  of  development.  In 
passing  up  the  animal  scale  there  is  also  a 
progress,  the  animal  body  becoming  more 
complex  in  structure  through  all  the  series 
until  we  reach  the  last  form.  The  fossil- 
iferous  rocks  also  show  progress,  from  the 

dawn   of  life   in  the   lowest  sedimentary 
104 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

rocks,  where  we  find,  as  a  general  rule, 
animal  and  vegetable  organisms  in  the 
most  simple  and  rudimentary  forms, 
through  all  the  immense  eras  of  geological 
history,  each  form  as  a  general  rule  becom- 
ing more  complex  in  structure,  until  we 
rise  to  the  rocks  of  the  present  age. 

This  law  of  progress  is  also  apparent  in 
Revelation,  ''All  Scripture  given  by  inspi- 
ration of  God  "  {0e67rv€vorTo<;,  God-inspired) 
must  have  been  composed  under  divine 
influence  which  flowed  forth  under  the 
direction  of  divine  wisdom,  and  in  harmony 
with  the  divine  method  of  working  mani- 
fested everywhere.  God  revealed  his  Will, 
and  disclosed  his  purposes  to  man  in  his 
Word,  as  his  children  were  able  to  compre- 
hend and  profit  by  it.  There  was  neces- 
sarily a  gradual  unfoldment  of  the  divine 
purposes  adapted  to  the  power  of  appre- 
hension of  human  nature  under  its  finite 
105 


,      THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

limitations.  Paul  fed  the  Corinthian  Chris- 
tians with  milk,  and  not  with  meat,  for  they 
were  not  able  to  bear  it.  Were  the  sun 
to  come  to  the  zenith  with  a  single  bound, 
the  light  poured  forth  suddenly  would  be 
overpowering  and  blinding.  The  Logos 
was  incarnated  and  veiled  to  human  view, 
but  when  this  veil  was  partially  removed  in 
his  metamorphosis,  ''his  face  did  shine  as 
the  sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  the 
light."  The  revelation  of  divine  truth  was 
gradual  in  type  and  shadows  through  long 
ages,  before  the  Son  of  God  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light  in  the  Gospel. 

The  law  of  evolution  has  many  phases 
in  nature,  in  history,  and  in  the  communi- 
cation of  the  Divine  Will.  In  human  his- 
tory, evolution  has  had  three  stages,  the 
era  of  physical  force,  the  era  of  intellectual 
supremacy,  and  the  era  of  spiritual  power. 

In  Revelation  there  has  been  a  gradual 
io6 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

unfolding  of  divine  truth,  adapted  to  man*s 
capacities,  and  suitable  to  his  necessities. 
Many  persons  living  amidst  varying  cir- 
cumstances, at  different  periods,  reaching 
over  about  sixteen  centuries,  were  inspired 
to  write  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  the 
revelation  was  given  in  such  elementary 
forms,  under  such  varied  environments, 
and  clothed  in  so  many  garbs,  that  it  is 
adapted  to  the  whole  human  family  under 
every  condition  of  human  experience.  The 
sacred  record  embraces  history,  biography, 
chronicles  of  events,  reigns  of  kings, 
accounts  of  battles,  sojournings  of  patri- 
archs, decisions  of  judges,  lives  of  proph- 
ets, records  of  marches,  divine  judgments 
and  mercies,  proverbs,  parables  and  epis- 
tles, all  teaching  the  same  doctrine,  and 
infused  by  the  same  spirit,  but  as  diversi- 
fied  as    the   landscape   of    the    countries 

where  the  revelation  was  given.     The  pro- 

107 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

gressive  revelation  of  the  divine  will  delin- 
eates the  struggles  of  God's  people  in  the 
earth,  reveals  the  character  of  God,  shows 
his  attributes  and  perfections,  gives  a 
description  of  the  appearance  of  angels, 
recounts  celestial  visions,  the  sinfulness  of 
human  conduct,  rules  of  life,  prophecies 
of  future  events,  and  judgments  of  the 
Lord,  and  contains  hymns  and  sublime 
odes,  sometimes  entering  into  minute 
details  of  human  life,  and  at  other  times 
leaping  over  whole  generations  of  men, 
only  touching  those  points  that  are  signifi- 
cant in  the  onward  progress  of  the  divine 
kingdom.  The  Bible  has  been  likened  to 
a  stream  that  dwindles  at  times  to  a  tiny 
rivulet,  and  again  broadens  out  into  an 
expanse  of  waters  like  a  shoreless  ocean. 
The  stream  of  Revelation  issuing  from  the 
silence  of  the  past  eternity,  courses  along 

the  shores  of  time,  and  is  lost  in  the  depths 
io8 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

of  an  eternity  which  may  be  likened  to  an 
ocean  that  is  shoreless  and  fathomless.  In 
giving  a  progressive  revelation,  God  made 
himself  known  in  words  that  were  some- 
times spoken  by  inspired  men  as  they  were 
spiritualized  and  lifted  to  higher  planes  to 
see  and  utter  divine  things,  and  also  by  his 
works,  in  his  providential  dealings  with  his 
children. 

The  economies  of  divine  grace  were  also 
progressive  from  Paradise  to  Pentecost. 
In  the  Old  Testament  we  have  a  natural 
time-unfoldment  involving  the  Creation  of 
the  World,  the  Garden  of  Eden,  the  Fall, 
the  Flood,  the  Dispersignj)f.  Nations,  the 
Call  of  Abraham,  the  Deliverance  Out  of 
Egypt,  the  Giving  of  the  Law  on  Mount 
Sinai,  the'Conquest  of  Palestine,  the  Estab- 
lishment of  David's  Kingdom,  the  Disper- 
sion of  the  Jews,  the  Captivity  of  Juda, 


109 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

and  the  Return  from  the  Babylonish  Cap- 
tivity. 
^ i  In  the  New  Testament,  we  have  a  pro- 
gressive time-unfolding  of  events,  the 
Announcement  of  the  Angels,  the  Birth 
\  of  Christ,  the  wonderful  Events  of  his 
I  Life,  his  Crucifixion,  Death,  Burial,  Resur- 
\  rection  and  Ascension,  Pentecost  and  the 
Preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  all  nations 
under  heaven.  We  have  the  unfolding  of 
the  Adamic  Covenant,  the  Mosaic  Dispen- 
sation and  the  New  Covenant.  Circum- 
cision, the  Seal  of  the  Covenant  of  Right- 
eousness by  faith  comes  and  goes,  and 
Baptism  becomes  the  Seal  of  the  New 
Covenant.  In  olden  times  men  saw 
visions,  and  dreamed  dreams  ;  there  was  a 
revelation  by  Urim  and  Thummim,  until 
the  Son  of  God  revealed  more  clearly  the 
Will  of  God. 

In   passing   from    Mosaic   to   Christian 
no 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

economy,  the  Sabbath  would  naturally  be 
affected  by  the  general  law  of  evolution, 
and  partake  of  the  nature  of  the  covenant 
under  which  it  is  observed.  There  is  a 
flexibility  about  divine  ordinances  that 
adjusts  them  to  the  necessities  of  the  case 
for  the  promotion  of  the  greatest  good  to 
men.  Human  machinery  wears  itself  out 
by  friction  among  its  parts,  but  the  move- 
ments of  Providence  are  frictionless,  and 
as  silent  as  the  wheels  of  time.  A  machine 
sometimes  fails  to  meet  the  necessities  that 
arise  in  manufacturing  and  must  be  thrown 
aside,  or  supplemented  by  some  other 
machine  to  carry  forward  the  work  to  a 
higher  plane,  to  produce  greater  excellence 
in  the  manufactured  product.  The  Sab- 
bath, however,  has  a  flexibility  that  adapts 
it  to  all  exigencies  that  may  arise  in  human 
history.     The  Sabbath  has  a  vitality  that 

endures  the  lapse  of  time,  that  produces 
m 


,     THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

an  inflorescence  in  all  climes,  and  bears 
fruit  that  grows  more  mellow  as  the  cycles 
of  time  run  their  rounds.  There  is  a  flex- 
ibility about  the  Institution,  and  divine 
providence  molds  it  to  meet  the  necessities 
of  man  in  his  progressive  development. 
The  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  one  day 
to  another  enlarges  its  scope  as  a  com- 
memorative ordinance,  and  the  relaxation 
of  Judaistic  rigor  puts  it  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 

When  first  given,  the  Sabbath  commem- 
orated the  creation  of  the  world,  and  it 
was  subsequently  hedged  about  by  restric- 
tions adapted  to  a  primitive  people,  who 
were  in  the  first  stages  of  human  develop- 
ment. There  was  a  strictness  about  the 
observance  of  the  Institution  under  the 
Mosaic  dispensation  that  disappeared 
under  the  New  Covenant.  The  Jews  could 
not  understand  how  Christ  should  heal  on 


112 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

the  Sabbath  day,  or  how  his  disciples  could 
walk  through  the  fields  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  rub  out  the  wheat  or  barley  in  their 
hands  to  satisfy  their  hunger.  This  strict- 
ness degenerated  among  the  Jews  into  a 
micrological  casuistry  that  made  it  unlaw- 
ful to  catch  a  flea  on  the  Sabbath,  unless  it 
were  biting  its  assailant.  No  one  could 
walk  upon  the  grass,  because  it  would  be 
bruised — a  kind  of  threshing ;  one  rabbi 
decided  that  a  Jew  could  not  move  between 
sunrise  and  sunset  on  the  Sabbath,  because 
the  Jews  were  forbidden  to  go  out  and 
gather  manna  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Thousands  of  Jews  suffered  death 
rather  than  resist  their  enemies  on  the  Sab- 
bath. A  traveler  at  Safed  was  approached 
by  a  quarrelsome  and  profane  Jew  with  the 
request  to  wind  his  watch  on  Friday  even- 
ing, because  the  sun  had  gone  down.     If 

a  man  plucked  a  bunch  of  grapes  after  the 
8  113 


,    THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

sun  set  on  Friday,  the  grapes  must  be 
dropped  less  he  carry  a  burden  ;  Jewish 
women  could  not  wear  jewelry,  because 
that  would  be  carrying  a  burden  ;  if  a  hen 
laid  an  ^gg  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  regular 
way,  it  could  not  be  eaten  ;  but  if  the  hen 
was  being  fattened  for  the  table,  the  ^gg 
could  be  eaten  ;  Gamaliel  suffered  his  beast 
of  burden,  that  had  fallen  into  the  mire,  to 
die  because  he  would  not  remove  the  bur- 
den from  his  back  on  the  Sabbath  ;  a  radish 
might  be  dipped  in  salt,  but  it  could  not  be 
left  in  it  over  the  Sabbath,  because  that 
would  be  making  a  pickle  ;  it  was  unlawful 
to  pick  a  fig,  or  even  a  blade  of  grass  on 
the  Sabbath ;  it  was  lawful  to  clear  away 
enough  rubbish  to  ascertain  if  the  man  was 
dead,  if  a  wall  had  fallen  upon  him  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  if  life  was  extinct,  the  body 
must  be  left  under  the  rubbish  until  the 

next  day.     Such  casuistry  reminds  one  of 
114 


THE    TRANSFERRED   SABBATH 

the  hair-splitting  questions  that  were  in 
vogue  in  the  middle  ages,  when  the  learned 
doctors  discussed  profoundly  whether  the 
angels  were  happier  in  the  forenoon,  or  in 
the  afternoon. 

Christ  declared  that  "the  Sabbath  was) 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sab-j 
bath"  ;  and  Paul  says,  **the  letter  killethJ 
but  the  spirit  giveth  life."    Under  Judaistic| 
rigor  and  casuistry,  the  Sabbath  became  a 
part  of  that  ''yoke  upon  the  neck  of  the 
disciples,  which,"  Peter  said,  '*  neither  our 
fathers  nor  we  were  able  to  bear."     In 
freeing  the  Sabbath  from  restrictions  and 
human  perversion,  Christ  did  not  aboHsh 
the  Institution  any  more  than  benevolence 
was   done   away   when   alms-givers   were 
admonished  **  not  to  let  the  left  hand  know 
what  the  right  hand  doeth"  ;  or  prayer 
was   forbidden  when   Christ  rebuked  the 


"5 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

Pharisees  for  praying  on  the  corners  of  the 
streets. 

In  opposition  to  the  Pharisaic  Sabbath, 
we  may  place  the  Sabbath  of  Paris  and  of 
continental  Europe,  where  the  holy  day 
becomes  a  holiday.  It  is  estimated  that 
sixty-two  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  the 
population  of  any  country,  on  the  average, 
can  attend  church.  In  New  York  City,  it 
is  estimated  that  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
this  number  attend  church ;  in  Berlin, 
Hamburg  and  Bremen,  only  two  per  cent, 
of  this  number  attend  church.  Thousands 
of  people  never  go  inside  of  a  Protestant 
or  Catholic  church  except  to  attend  a  wed- 
ding or  a  funeral. 

In  1884,  Dr.  Stocker,  in  the  German 
Parliament,  stated  that  ''the  large  towns 
of  Germany  have  a  smaller  number  of 
churches  in  proportion  to  the  population 


116 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

than  those  of  any  other  country  in  Chris- 
tendom/* 

In  1883,  when  there  was  a  movement  to 
open  public  museums  in  England  on  the 
Sabbath,  Earl  Cairns,  in  his  speech  on  May 
8,  1883,  in  the  House  of  Lords,  read  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by 
a  distinguished  gentleman  of  Germany, 
which  contrasts  the  Sabbath  of  Germany 
with  that  of  Great  Britain  :  '*  We  Ger- 
mans are,  to  a  great  extent,  far  removed 
from  such  a  celebration  of  Sunday.  The 
Day  of  Rest  and  of  most  elevated  joy  is 
too  often  robbed  of  its  honor.  The  fore- 
noon of  Sunday  is  given  up  to  work,  and 
the  afternoon  to  pleasure.  That  which  can 
elevate  man  is  often  despised,  but  that 
which  degrades  him  is  sought  after.  On 
Sunday  the  policemen  reap  their  most 
abundant  harvest;  on  Sunday  children  occa- 
sion the  greatest  anxiety  ;  on  Sunday  even- 
117 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

ing,  above  all  other  times,  does  the  wife 
anticipate  the  return  of  her  husband  with 
a  foreboding  heart.  Drunkenness  and 
rioting  celebrate  their  greatest  triumph  on 
Sunday ;  and  most  of  the  misdemeanors 
are  committed  on  that  day,  or  are  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  misuse  of  it. 
We  turn,  therefore,  to  our  countrymen 
with  the  urgent  request  that  they  would, 
in  their  various  spheres,  endeavor  to  pro- 
cure for  the  Sunday  a  more  honorable 
observance  in  our  land.  If  the  Sunday 
acquires  a  different  character,  the  national 
life  will  rest  on  a  surer  basis." 

Dr.  Reuen  Thomas  says :  **  More  than 
any  other  country,  Germany  seems  to  me 
an  illustration  of  St.  Paul's  words,  'The 
letter  killeth!  Since  Luther's  time  she 
seems  to  have  been  singularly  destitute  of 
what  in  Scripture  is  called  *  vision ' — vision 

as  distinct  from  that  intelligence  that  comes 
ii8 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

of  mental  culture.  Where  there  is  no 
vision  the  people  perish.  In  the  religious 
realm  of  things,  Germany  is  much  more 
of  a  warning  than  an  example." 

Rev.  E.  W.  Hitchcock,  D.D.,  ex-pastor 
of  the  American  Chapel  in  Paris,  writes  to 
Rev.  William  F.  Crafts,  author  of  an  excel- 
lent work  on  the  Sabbath,  entitled  **The 
Sabbath  for  Man,"  as  follows  :  **  Concern- 
ing the  present  observance,  or  non-observ- 
ance, of  the  Sabbath  in  France,  it  may  be 
said  in  general  that  Sunday  is  the  French- 
man's hoHday,  not  his  holy  day.  The  fetes, 
'spectacles,'  concerts,  operas,  and  theaters 
are  made  doubly  attractive  on  that  day.  It 
is  the  day  for  the  public  fetes,  the  popular 
elections  [when  Christians  must  electioneer 
and  vote,  or  lose  their  political  rights],  the 
military  reviews,  the  races,  the  illumina- 
tions, the  exhibitions,  the  popular  gather- 
ings, political,  socialistic,  humanitarian, 
119 


THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

artistic.  The  Catholic  Church  allows  great 
liberty  to  its  members.  Provided  they 
attend  early  mass,  they  may  do  what  they 
please  and  go  where  they  please  the  rest 
of  the  day.  The  Protestants,  as  a  general 
thing,  keep  the  day  better,  but  they  are  far 
from  being  Puritanic  in  their  ideas.  They 
believe  in  *  making  the  Sabbath  a  delight ' 
— according  to  their  own  idea  of  delight — 
and  would  not  hesitate  to  walk  in  the  pub- 
lic parks,  visit  the  picture-galleries,  attend 
concerts,  receive  their  friends,  etc.  They 
realize,  however,  that  Sunday  is  the  Lord's 
Day  as  well  as  man's  day,  and  that  upon 
its  observance  is  conditioned  the  moral  and 
religious  welfare  of  the  nation." 

Robert  McCheyne,  lamenting  over  the 
Sabbath  of  Paris,  says  :  **Alas  !  poor  Paris 
knows  no  Sabbath.  All  the  shops  are 
open,  and  all  the  inhabitants  are  on  the 
wing  in   search   of   pleasures — pleasures 

I20 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

that  perish  in  the  using.  I  thought  of 
Babylon  and  Sodom  as  I  passed  through 
the  crowd.  I  cannot  tell  how  I  longed  for 
the  peace  of  the  Scottish  Sabbath." 

Pierre  Joseph  Proudhon  says  :  *'  Sunday 
in  the  towns  is  a  day  of  rest  without  motive 
or  end ;  an  occasion  of  display  for  the 
women  and  children  ;  of  consumption  in 
the  restaurants  and  wine-shops  ;  of  degrad- 
ing idleness  ;  of  surfeit  and  debauchery. 
The  workmen  make  merr}^  the  grisettes 
dance,  the  soldier  tipples,  the  tradesman 
alone  is  busy." 

The  Abbe  Gaume,  a  Catholic  authority, 
deplores  the  laxity  of  the  French  Sunday : 
''Where  now  do  these  men,  women  and 
children,  free  now  as  to  their  time,  resort? 
Ask  the  theaters,  the  taverns,  the  places  of 
debauchery.  The  tables  of  surfeit  and 
excess  have  with  them  displaced  the  holy 
table ;   licentious    songs   are  their  sacred 

121 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

hymns  ;  the  theater  is  their  church  ;  dances 
and  shows  engage  them,  instead  of  instruc- 
tion and  prayer.  Thus  by  a  disorder  which 
cries  for  vengeance  to  Heaven,  the  Holy 
Day  is  the  day  of  the  week  most  profaned." 

In  1884,  Robert  Collyer,  the  well-known 
Unitarian  clergyman,  wrote  the  New  York 
Tribune  as  follows  :  '*  I  remember  when  in 
Paris  in  1865,  counting /or  fy  different  kinds 
of  workingmen  busy  at  their  tasks  as  I 
walked  on  Sunday  morning  from  my  hotel 
to  a  church  not  far  away.  I  wondered 
where  that  would  end,  and  saw  the  end  in 
1 87 1  in  the  fires  that  had  been  kindled  by 
the  Commune." 

Somewhere  between  these  extremes, 
between  the  rigor  of  the  Sabbath  of  Juda- 
ism and  the  laxity  of  the  Paris  Sabbath, 
lies  the  Christian  Sabbath,  or  the  Lord's 
Day.  It  is  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath  trans- 
ferred to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  liberated 
122 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

from  the  severities  of  the  Old  Covenant, 
mellowed  under  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
and  vitalized  to  subserve  the  necessities  of 
the  children  of  the  King,  who  breathe  for 
immortality. 

The  Moral  Law,  of  which  the  Sabbath 
is  an  integral  part,  touches  every  point  of 
human  nature.  The  first  commandment  is 
God's  statute  in  regard  to  monotheism  ; 
the  second  in  regard  to  idolatry,  for  there 
can  be  no  counterfeits  in  the  Divine  King- 
dom ;  the  third  in  regard  to  profanity  ;  the 
fourth  in  regard  to  time  ;  the  fifth  in  regard 
to  the  family ;  the  sixth  in  regard  to  life  ; 
the  seventh  in  regard  to  moral  purity  ;  the 
eighth  in  regard  to  property  ;  the  ninth  in 
regard  to  truth  ;  and  the  tenth  in  regard  to 
covetousness.  The  New  Commandment 
given  by  the  Lord  is  supplemental,  and 
may  be  termed  the  Fountain  of  Brotherly 

Love,  that  burst  forth  among  the  disciples 
123 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

after  his  Resurrection.  If  these  principles 
are  incorporated  in  our  Hves,  all  of  our 
relations  towards  God  and  man  are  fulfilled 
and  we  find  the  Law  of  the  Lord  is  per- 
fect. As  a  part  of  the  Decalogue,  the 
Fourth  Commandment,  which  treats  of 
human  duty  in  relation  to  time,  is  as  neces- 
sary and  binding  and  sacred  as  any  other 
commandment,  and  no  man  can  be  perfect 
without  remembering  the  Sabbath  to  keep 
it  holy,  under  all  covenants,  as  long  as  the 
cycles  of  time  shall  run  their  rounds.  To 
do  this  intelligently,  to  understand  the 
Moral  Law,  every  commandment  of  which 
is  binding  upon  Christians  in  all  times  and 
places,  it  is  vital  for  the  followers  of  Christ 
to  know  that  the  Sabbath  has  been  trans- 
ferred from  Saturday  to  Sunday,  and  also 
to  learn  what  modifications  the  Sabbath 
has  undergone  in  passing  from  one  econ- 
omy to  another. 

124 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

The  Transferred  Sabbath  is  a  day  of 

rest,  but  not  a  day  of  idleness  and  sleep. 

The  Fourth  Commandment  has  an  outer 

and  an  inner  aspect,  a  twofold  relation  to 

man.     The  outer  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  to 

abstain    from   ordinary   daily   labor ;    the 

inner  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  to  keep  the 

day  holy.     On  the  Sabbath  the  soul  should 

be  actively  engaged  in  pursuit  of  those 

things   that   pertain  to   the  spiritual  life. 

Holiness  in  the  Bible  is  absolute  freedom  \ 

from   evil,   and   all   defects   of  character,  j 

absolute   perfection   of  life   in  its  higher 

relation  to  God  and  man.     Under  the  Old 

Testament,  holiness  seems  to  start  at  the 

surface  and  penetrate  inwards  towards  the 

heart,  which  gives  ceremonial  observance 

a  more  prominent  place  in  the  salvation 

of  man.     In  the  New  Testament,  under 

the   quickening    influences   of    the   Holy 

Spirit,  holiness  in  man  is  represented  as 
125 


,    THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

Starting  at  the  center  of  man's  being,  and 
working  outward  towards  his  acts  and 
words.  The  Christian  graces  find  a  lodg- 
ment in  the  heart,  and  flow  out  in  a  stream 
of  reverence  towards  God  and  benevolence 
towards  man.  To  keep  the  Sabbath  holy 
is  not  merely  a  negative  condition  of 
abstaining  from  ordinary  labor,  and  from 
moral  evil,  but  also  an  active  condition  of 
soul  which  flows  out  in  acts  of  reverence 
and  benevolence.  Holiness,  moral  per- 
fection of  character,  implies  moral  activity 
or  worship,  and  charitable  deeds.  To 
keep  the  Sabbath  holy  implies  an  active 
condition  of  the  spiritual  powers  of  man, 
in  performing  those  religious  observances 
which  put  a  man  in  touch  with  divine 
things,  and  in  an  overflow  of  soul  towards 
God  the  Giver  of  all  good.  We  might  as 
appropriately  speak  of  a  perfect  fountain, 

out  of  which  flowed  no  water,  as  of  a  per- 
126 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

feet  heart  that  did  not  flow  out  in  love  and 
reverence  towards  God. 

The  first  covenant  contained  promises 
that  pertained  mainly  to  the  present  life, 
such  as  possessing  the  Promised  Land,  the 
increase  of  numbers,  of  seed  time  and 
harvest,  of  national  privileges,  of  extraor- 
dinary prosperity,  including  germinally  the 
promise  of  eternal  life. 

In  the  New  Covenant,  spiritual  blessings 
are  promised  as  the  principal  thing.  The 
soul  is  directed  to  heaven,  the  heart  is 
cheered  with  the  hope  of  immortal  life  and 
the  favor  of  God,  and  the  gate  of  heaven 
is  plainly  opened  for  all  believers.  As  the 
New  Covenant  in  its  requirements  is  more 
spiritual  than  the  Old  Covenant,  the 
observance  of  the  Transferred  Sabbath 
should  be  more  spiritual.  The  Sabbath  is 
not  a  day  for  travel  in  the  ordinary  accep- 
tation of  the  term.  It  should  not  be  given 
127 


,    THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

up  to  amusements  and  pleasure-seeking. 
Hunting,  fishing,  pleasure  excursions, 
social  parties,  light  reading  and  worldly 
conversation  should  be  discarded.  A  per- 
son can  take  a  walk  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
if  he  will  take  a  Sabbath  walk.  Christ  and 
his  disciples  walked  through  the  cornfields 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  two  disciples  walked 
to  Emmaus  on  the  Sabtath,  and  Jesus 
drew  near  and  went  with  them,  and 
expounded  the  Scriptures  to  them,  and 
opened  their  understanding  of  sacred 
things. 

Nature  is  the  Universal  Temple  erected 
and  dedicated  for  worship  in  all  lands,  and 
wherever  two  or  three  worshipers,  under 
the  blue  vault  of  heaven,  bow  their  heads 
in  true  reverence  to  the  Father  of  All,  the 
Incarnated  One  has  promised  to  be  in  the 
midst   of    them.     Every   cloister   of   this 

Temple,  wherever  devout  souls  retire  for 
128 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

meditation  and  prayer,  is  filled  with  the 
Omnipresent  One,  and  his  ear  is  ever 
attentive  to  all  that  lisp  his  praise.  In 
these  sacred  courts  are  visible  manifesta- 
tions of  his  power  and  wisdom,  his  good- 
ness and  beauty,  that  are  fitted  to  awaken 
reverence  in  all  thoughtful  souls.  How 
the  contemplative  mind  is  awed  into  silence 
by  the  majesty  and  power  of  Him  who 
hath  heaved  the  mountains  and  poured  the 
ocean.  How  the  spirits  of  the  sons  of 
toil,  weary  of  the  battle  of  life,  are  soothed 
by  the  cadence  of  waterfalls,  the  sighing 
of  the  winds  among  the  forests,  the  moan- 
ing of  the  ocean,  the  murmur  of  insects 
and  the  songs  of  birds.  In  the  round  of 
the  seasons  there  are  manifest  and  varied 
tokens  of  the  presence  of  Him  who  goes 
forth  at  the  appointed  season  to  clothe  the 
forest  with  leaves,  to  spread  the  green  car- 
pets of  the  fields,  to  ornament  them  with 
9  129 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

flowers,  to  cause  the  earth  to  bring  forth 
abundantly  the  golden  harvests,  to  load 
the  orchards  with  fruits,  and  to  spread  in 
its  season  the  white  mantle  of  snow  over 
hill  and  dale,  as  if  to  cover  up  and  hide 
from  view  all  the  imperfections  of  the  year. 
Every  expanding  leaf  bespeaks  his  wisdom 
and  power,  and  every  wave-washed  pebble 
at  our  feet  shows  his  providential  care. 
Undevout  must  be  the  soul  that  cannot 
worship  in  the  Universal  Temple,  so  full 
of  the  divine  presence,  on  the  Transferred 
Sabbath  which  brings  to  us  all  the  sweet- 
ness and  beauty  and  gladness  of  earth, 
since  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and 
the  Lord  of  Life  burst  the  bars  of  death 
and  came  forth  from  the  sepul^laer,  the 
pledge  of  immortality. 

All  the  various  offices  of  religion  should 
be  performed  on  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

This  day  is  specially  sei  apart  for  men  to 
130 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

enter  the  house  of  God,  and  to  engage  in 
pubHc  worship.  In  the  olden  time,  good 
men  whose  hearts  were  stirred  with  relig- 
ious fervor,  entered  the  sanctuary  to  pay 
their  vows  and  worship  God.  On  this 
sacred  day  they  read  from  the  Law,  the 
Psalms,  and  the  Prophets,  in  the  Syna- 
gogue. In  the  assembly  of  his  saints  they 
praised  Him  for  his  mighty  acts  and  uttered 
abundantly  the  memory  of  his  goodness. 
The  psalmist  esteemed  a  day  in  his  courts 
better  than  a  thousand,  and  they  went  on 
from  strength  to  strength,  every  one 
appearing  before  God.  The  tabernacles 
of  God  were  amiable  to  them,  and  the 
Lord  gave  them  grace  and  glory.  The 
psalmist  said  he  would  rather  be  a  door- 
keeper in  the  house  of  God  than  to  dwell 
in  the  tents  of  wickedness.  So  delightful 
was  the  sanctuary  that  even  the  swallow 

was  envied  that  found  a  nesting  near  the 
131 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

sacred  place,  where  she  might  lay  her 
young.  The  psalmist  declared  that  his 
"soul  longed,  yea,  even  fainted  for  the 
courts  of  the  Lord  ;  his  heart  and  his  flesh 
cried  out  for  the  living  God."  The  Lord 
was  a  sun  to  shine  upon  them,  and  a  shield 
to  give  them  protection.  In  passing 
through  the  vale  of  tears  they  made  it  a 
spring,  even  their  tears  were  converted 
into  a  blessed  fountain.  The  Sabbath  was 
a  delight  to  them,  the  holy  and  honorable 
of  the  Lord. 

Under  the  New  Covenant,  the  disciples 
continued  in  fellowship,  in  prayer  and 
in  breaking  bread  every  Sabbath  Day. 
"When  ye  come  together,"  the  apostle 
says,  "  every  one  of  you  hath  a  psalm,  hath 
a  doctrine,  hath  a  tongue,  hath  a  revela- 
tion, hath  an  interpretation."  And  thus  in 
the  sanctuary,  on  the  Sabbath  Day,  the 

word  of  God  dwelt  in  them  in  all  wisdom, 
132 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATIT 

and  they  taught  and  admonished  one 
another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual 
songs,  with  grace  in  their  hearts.  They 
prophesied,  spoke  with  other  tongues, 
taught  the  Scriptures,  collected  alms  for  the 
needy  saints,  took  hold  on  God's  covenant, 
and  kept  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it. 

The  education  of  children  involves  their 
government  and  instruction,  and  their 
instruction  in  divine  things  finds  its  appro- 
priate time  largely  on  the  Sabbath  Day. 
The  apostle  says:  ''Fathers,  provoke  not 
your  children  to  wrath  :  but  bring  them  up 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 
These  are  the  olive  plants  around  our 
hearthstones  that  need  the  most  tender 
care.  Under  spiritual  guidance,  ''  our  sons 
may  be  as  plants  grown  up  in  their  youth  ; 
and  our  daughters  may  be  as  corner-stones, 
polished  after  the  similitude  of  a  palace." 
In  the  family  is  the  fountain  of  life  that 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

pours  forth  waters  sweet  or  bitter.  As  the 
prophet  cast  a  branch  into  the  bitter  waters 
of  Marah  to  sweeten  them,  so  the  grace 
of  God  can  sweeten  this  fountain  of  Hfe. 
The  sacred  and  appropriate  time  for  the 
instruction  of  children  in  divine  things  is 
the  Sabbath  Day,  when  everything  con- 
spires to  foster  and  make  this  work  effect- 
ive. Youth  is  the  precious  time  when  the 
seeds  of  divine  truth  germinate  quickly  in 
tender  hearts,  and  grow  luxuriously  with 
April  showers.  The  lambs  of  the  fold 
should  be  taken  to  the  Great  Shepherd, 
who  will  fold  them  in  his  arms  and  carry 
them  in  his  bosom.  We  should  never  for- 
get the  blessed  words  :  **  Suffer  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them 
not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
The  wise  man  has  said  with  more  than 
earthly  wisdom  :  ''Train  up  a  child  in  the 

way  he  should  go  ;  and  when  he  is  old  he 
134 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

will  not  depart  from  it."  This  saying  will 
be  found  strictly  true  when  Christian  par- 
ents form  moral  character  in  their  children 
under  wise  training  with  parental  love  and 
care.  Sooner  will  the  Ethiopian  change 
his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots,  than  will 
a  child  lose  his  moral  character  when  once 
it  is  properly  formed  within  him.  A  child 
may  lose  his  Hfe ;  but  he  seldom  loses 
Christian  character.  Character  perpetuates 
itself,  and  is  the  most  enduring  thing  with- 
in the  realm  of  time  and  space.  The 
worlds  shall  be  dissolved,  but  character 
shall  endure  forevermore.  Some  one  has 
said :  "  Better  turn  a  wolf  loose  into  the 
street,  than  to  send  out  a  child  into  the 
world  that  is  not  a  subject  of  divine  grace." 
What  a  fountain  of  blessings  to  send  out 
a  son  who  becomes  a  Paul,  a  Wesley,  or  a 
Moody. 

When  the  Sabbath  comes,  there  is  a  sol- 


,      THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

emn  pause  in  the  ordinary  vocations  of 
life,  and  a  holy  light  breaks  over  the  house- 
hold that  seems  in  a  Christian  family  to  be 
very  sweet  and  refreshing.  When  the 
family  gather  for  morning  prayers,  it  seems 
as  if  some  of  the  heavenly  dew  had  dis- 
tilled upon  the  earth.  The  word  of  God 
instructs  and  refreshes  the  weary  soul,  and 
the  children  are  taught  to  hymn  his  praise. 
Gracious  influences  steal  into  tender  hearts 
as  children  study  the  words  and  works  of 
God.  The  family  altar  is  a  sacred  place 
where  holy  fire  burns  with  a  flame  that 
consumes  unholy  thoughts  and  sinful 
desires.  Personified  wisdom  has  said  :  **  I 
love  them  that  love  me  ;  and  those  that 
seek  me  early  shall  find  me." 

The  young  have  received  public  religious 
instruction,  more  or  less,  from  very  early 
times.     In  patriarchal  days,  this  instruction 

was  given  in  the  family,  and  the  father  was 
136 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

the  teacher  and  priest.  From  Samuel  to 
Elijah,  there  were  schools  of  the  prophets. 
Jehoshaphat  sent  out  a  royal  commissioner 
to  reestablish  religious  instruction,  and 
there  was  a  similar  movement  in  the  days 
of  Josiah.  Ezra  gathered  together  the 
people  with  the  children  during  the  feast 
of  tabernacles,  and  read  the  laws  of  Moses 
to  them,  and  the  people  wept  while  he 
instructed  them  in  righteousness.  The 
Mishna  says:  '*At  five  years  of  age  let 
children  begin  the  Scripture,  at  ten  the 
Mishna,  and  at  thirteen  let  them  be  sub- 
jects of  the  law."  When  we  are  told  that 
"  Paul  was  brought  up  at  the  feet  of  Gam- 
aliel," it  implies  the  posture  assumed  by 
Jewish  youth  while  they  received  instruc- 
tion. The  catechetical  classes  were  in- 
tended to  prepare  new  converts  to  become 
members  of  synagogues. 

Robert  Raikes  may  justly  be  considered 
137 


,      THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

as  the  founder  of  modern  Sabbath-schools. 
As  millions  of  children  study  the  Bible  in 
Sabbath-schools,  what  a  wave  of  light  like 
the  light  of  the  sun  encircles  the  earth  on 
the  Transferred  Sabbath. 

The  Sabbath  is  a  day  that  is  appropriate 
for  performing  works  of  necessity,  and 
works  of  mercy.  The  law  of  necessity 
should  not  receive  too  liberal  an  interpre- 
tation, but  the  demands  of  intelligent  free 
moral  agents  widen  with  their  progressive 
development.  Under  the  old  economy  the 
restriction  of  a  Sabbath  Day's  journey  did 
not  subtract  from  the  religious  freedom  or 
usefulness  of  a  Jew.  But  in  these  days  of 
quick  transit  such  a  restriction  would  ser- 
iously cripple  active  and  faithful  workers 
in  many  a  missionary  field.  Missionaries 
at  home  and  abroad  are  sometimes  com- 
pelled to  serve  on  the  same  Sabbath  sev- 
eral churches  widely  separated  to  carry  the 
138 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

Gospel  to  hungry  souls.  Time  and  space 
under  the  liberty  of  the  New  Covenant  are 
not  fetters  to  hinder  one  from  serving  the 
Master.  The  apostle  says:  "The  letter 
killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life."  The 
Transferred  Sabbath  is  a  day  of  Christian 
liberty  on  which  Christians  should  worship 
and  serve  the  risen  Lord.  Works  of 
mercy  however  should  receive  a  liberal 
interpretation,  for  Christ  delighted  in  heal- 
ing and  showing  mercy  to  his  children  on 
the  Sabbath  Day,  and  they  should  imitate 
their  Lord  and  Master.  No  limits  have 
ever  been  established  under  any  covenant 
to  the  works  of  love  and  mercy  on  the 
Sabbath  Day.  The  visitation  of  the  sick 
and  needy  is  appropriate  for  the  Sabbath 
Day,  if  we  carry  to  them  something  that 
makes  them  better  in  body  and  in  soul. 
Thrice  precious  are  those  gifts  that  also 

enrich  the  soul. 

139 


,    THE    SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

From  the  earliest  times,  under  all  cove- 
nants, the  Sabbath  has  been  the  time  di- 
vinely appointed  for  the  children  of  God  to 
receive  spiritual  blessings.  It  is  the  day 
designated  by  Jehovah  for  holy  convoca- 
tions. On  this  day  the  cloud  of  the  divine 
presence  rests  upon  the  sanctuary.  It  is 
the  day  when  God  has  promised  to  be  gra- 
cious, to  send  forth  His  holy  spirit,  and 
forgive  the  sins  of  His  people.  It  is  the 
divinely  appointed  day  of  salvation.  On 
this  day  from  the  sacred  oracles,  from 
the  ordinances  and  sacraments,  from  the 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  from 
the  presence  of  the  Redeemer,  believers 
have  derived  more  spiritual  life  than  from 
all  the  other  days  of  the  week.  This  day 
was  specially  blessed  during  the  tabernacle 
and  temple  service.  Nehemiah  saw  some 
treading    wine-presses    on    the    Sabbath, 

bringing  sheaves,  and  engaged  in  other 
140 


THE     TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

usual  vocations,  and  he  testified  against 
them.  Men  of  Tyre  also  brought  fish 
and  ware  and  sold  them  in  Jerusalem  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  Nehemiah  contended  with 
the  nobles  of  Judah  in  regard  to  it.  On 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  Transferred 
Sabbath,  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out 
without  measure,  and  three  thousand  were 
converted  and  added  to  the  church.  On 
the  Sabbath  Day  we  have  the  promise  of 
the  continued  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Christ  taught  on  the  Sabbath  in 
the  synagogue  and  in  the  temple,  and  the 
inspired  apostles  imitated  the  example  of 
their  Lord  and  Master. 

God  has  promised  special  rewards  to 
those  who  keep  the  Sabbath.  The  Great 
Prophet  has  said:  ''Blessed  is  the  man 
that  doeth  this,  and  the  son  of  man  that 
layeth  hold  on  it ;  that  keepeth  the  Sab- 
bath from  polluting  it,  and  keepeth  his 
141 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

hand  from  doing  any  evil."  ''Also  the 
sons  of  the  stranger,  that  join  themselves 
to  the  Lord,  to  serve  him,  and  to  love  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  to  be  his  servants,  every 
one  that  keepth  the  Sabbath  from  pollut- 
ing it,  and  taketh  hold  of  my  covenant. 
Even  them  will  I  bring  to  my  holy  mount- 
ain, and  make  them  joyful  in  my  house  of 
prayer :  their  burnt-offerings  and  their  sac- 
rifices shall  be  accepted  upon  mine  altar ; 
for  my  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of 
prayer  for  all  people."  "If  thou  turn 
away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  from 
doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day  ;  and 
call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the 
Lord,  honorable  ;  and  shalt  honor  him,  not 
doing  thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine 
own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own 
words."  "Then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself 
in  the  Lord ;    and  I  will    cause   thee   to 

ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and 
142 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy 
father :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it.'* 

The  blessing  of  God  has  been  too 
evident,  long-continued  and  uniform  to 
doubt  that  the  Sabbath  is  the  favorable 
time  for  receiving  the  richest  blessings  of 
divine  grace  that  descend  on  holy  convo- 
cations. On  this  day  millions  have  been 
born  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  made 
joyful  in  his  house.  If  this  holy  day  should 
be  neglected,  the  temples  of  God  would  be 
deserted  in  the  world,  the  good  news  of 
salvation  would  not  be  proclaimed  to  men, 
religion  would  decay,  and  morals  fade 
away,  the  progress  of  civilization  would  be 
stayed,  mankind  would  degenerate  into 
ignorance  and  crime,  and  moral  darkness 
would  brood  over  the  world.  If  man's 
relation  to  time  for  his  higher  development 

should  cease,  his  relation  to  space  as  a 
143 


THE    SABBATH    TRANSFERRED 

self-conscious,  free  moral  agent  would  be 
worthless,  and  he  would  soon  cease  to  be 
the  crown  and  glory  of  this  lower  world. 

In  a  most  important  sense  the  Trans- 
ferred Sabbath  is  the  River  of  God  that  is 
full  of  water,  for  the  waters  of  other  rivers 
fail.  This  mighty,  ever-flowing  river  finds 
its  springs  near  the  sources  of  time,  and 
flows  continuously  through  the  wilderness 
of  this  world  washing  all  lands.  It  flows 
from  beneath  the  divine  throne,  and  bears 
on  its  bosom  into  this  lower  world  the 
most  precious  gifts  of  God.  Its  mighty 
increasing  current  sweeps  on  towards  those 
golden  days  seen  in  visions  by  the  prophets 
of  old,  of  the  New  Heavens  and  New 
Earth,  when  *'  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea.'*  **In  those  days  shall  the  right- 
eous flourish"  and  "the  mountains  shall 

bring  peace  to  the  people,  and  the  little  hills 
144 


THE    TRANSFERRED    SABBATH 

by  righteousness."  The  Great  Prophet,  in 
speaking  of  those  days,  says:  ''Instead 
of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir  tree,  and 
instead  of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the 
myrtle  tree :  and  it  shall  be  to  the  Lord 
for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign  that 
shall  not  be  cut  off."  The  Transferred 
Sabbath  is  the  Evangel  of  Peace  to  all 
people,  for  the  time  will  come  when  all 
nations  shall  remember  it  to  keep  it  holy, 
and  their  men  "  shall  learn  war  no  more  " 
but  "  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plow- 
shares, and  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks/' 


xo  J4S 


CHAPTER  VI 

SABBATARIANISM  FOUNDED   ON  A  FALSE 
TRANSLATION 

pRIOR  to  the  publication  of  the  first 
edition  of  the  Monograph,  entitled  The 
Sabbath  Transferred,  the  author  entered 
into  a  long  correspondence  with  leading 
professors  of  Greek  in  this  country,  in 
reference  to  the  correct  interpretation  of 
Matt.  28  : 1,  and  parallel  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture. He  found,  among  the  best  Greek 
scholars,  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  the 
rendering  adopted  in  this  Monograph  does 
not  violate  any  principles  of  the  Greek 
language,  and  the  translation  of  the  Greek 
words  is  without  doubt  the  natural  one. 
Distrusting  his  own  opinion,  he  visited 
and  consulted  professors  of  Greek,  and 
146 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

considered  the  question  a  long  time  before 
he  adopted  the  rendering  which  is  just 
what  might  be  expected  by  the  Transfer 
of  the  Sabbath. 

The  Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  may  be 
considered  firmly  established,  even  with- 
out the  philological  argument,  for  it  rests 
on  many  supports,  and  has  been  accepted 
and  adopted  by  a  multitude  of  distin- 
guished men,  such  as  Eusebius,  Alcuin, 
Martin  Luther,  Philip  Schaff,  and  in  the 
present  day  by  well-known  men,  such  as 
Dr.  F.  N.  Peloubet,  Dr.  Richard  Cordley, 
the  "Nugget  Preacher,"  Dr.  Henry  Hop- 
kins, Dr.  A.  D.  Madeira,  Rev.  D.  D. 
Munro,  Dr.  J.  T.  Dickinson,  Dr.  V.  Le 
Roy  Lockwood,  Dr.  Henry  Spellmeyer, 
Dr.  F.  E.  Sturges,  Dr.  George  W.  Clark, 
the  Commentator,  Bishop  C.  C.  McCabe, 
Bishop  W.  X.  Ninde,  Dr.  John  F.  Patter- 
son,  and  a  multitude  of  others, 
147 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

If  the  Sabbath  as  an  Institution  was 
transferred  under  Divine  Providence  at 
the  Resurrection,  we  should  naturally  ex- 
pect to  find  some  mention  of  the  fact  in 
the  New  Testament  at  the  time  of  the 
Transfer.  Accepting  this  rendering,  the 
New  Testament  recognizes  the  Transfer 
of  the  Sabbath  at  the  Resurrection  in  all 
the  Gospels,  and  twice  in  the  Gospel  of 
John,  twice  in  the  Acts,  in  i  Corinthi- 
ans, and  in  Colossians.  The  Transfer  is 
also  plainly  recognized  in  Revelation  by 
r\  KvpiaKTf  Tfpiepa  (Rev.  I  :  lo),  where  an 
additional  name  is  given  to  the  Sabbath 
derived  from  the  fact  of  the  Transfer. 
Matthew  gives  a  vivid  historical  picture  of 
the  Transfer  at  the  moment  of  the  Resur- 
rection, speaking  of  the  Sabbath  before 
the  Resurrection  as  being  observed  on 
Saturday,  and    after  the  Resurrection    as 

being  observed  on  Sunday. 
148 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Secular  days  are  simply  segments  of  the 
week,  time-measures,  or  time-names,  for 
the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis. 
Time  is  represented  by  a  flowing  stream, 
for  we  speak  of  the  ''stream  of  time." 
Time  is  naturally  articulated  and  related 
to  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
for  they  all  move  in  time  and  space.  As 
the  members  of  the  solar  system  in  moving 
in  their  orbits  cut  off  space,  so  their  move- 
ments cut  off  time,  or  take  place  accord- 
ing to  time-measures.  Secular  days  and 
weeks  and  months  and  years  are  natural 
divisions  of  time  articulated  and  measured 
by  the  movements  of  members  of  the 
solar  system.  When  the  Creator,  on  the 
fourth  period  of  creation,  said,  "  Let  there 
be  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the  heaven," 
and  let  them  be  for  seasons  and  for  days 
and  years,    geologists  tell  us  the  created 

worlds    in    motion    became    visible,    and 
149 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

articulated  time  in  secular  days  and  weeks 
and  months  and  years ;  but  the  Sabbath 
had  not  been  instituted.  The  Sabbath,  a 
complete  day,  idealized  as  an  element  of 
time,  was  set  apart  as  an  Institution  for 
men  for  rest,  and  hallowed  for  worship. 
It  came  in  at  the  end  of  creation  by  ap- 
pointment differing  in  character  from  an 
astronomical  day,  the  ideal  or  holy  day  to 
be  substituted  for  the  astronomical  day 
in  a  septenary  order.  Christ  says:  "The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man."  It  is  not 
the  time-name  or  time-measure  of  the 
movement  of  any  member  of  the  solar 
system,  although  for  obvious  reasons  it  is 
equal  in  length  to  a  secular  day.  The 
Sabbath  came  by  divine  appointment  for 
rest  and  worship  for  man  at  the  end  of 
creation,  as  an  appointment  is  made  for 
some  church  service,  only  the  Sabbath 
was  a  divine  appointment,  or  Institution, 
150 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

after  the  secular  days  had  run  for  ages. 
This  fact  is  recognized  in  the  Fourth 
Commandment,  where  we  are  told  "to 
remember  the  day  of  the  Sabbath,"  making 
grammatically  the  word  limiting  and  the 
word  limited  different  in  meaning.  If  the 
Sabbath  and  the  day  on  which  the  Sab- 
bath is  observed  are  the  same,  the  Fourth 
Commandment  would  mean,  remember 
the  day  of  the  day,  which  would  be  tautol- 
ogy. When  God  blessed  the  seventh  day 
(Gen.  2:3)  He  blessed  07ie  day  in  seven, 
and  did  not  bless  Saturday,  a  fact  which 
any  Hebrew  scholar  can  ascertain  by  ex- 
amining the  passage  in  the  original. 

When  astronomers  observe  a  planet  at 
different  times,  and  find  it  at  different 
points  of  the  heavens,  they  say  the  planet 
has  moved  in  its  07- bit.  When  we  find 
the  Sabbath  under  different  dispensations 
observed  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles  on 
151 


,  THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

different  secular  days,  we  infer  that  the 
Institution  must  have  been  transferred 
from  one  secular  day  to  another.  The 
Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  derives  its  proofs 
from  many  sources,  such  as  philosophy, 
theology,  evolution,  prophecy,  the  exam- 
ple of  Christ,  the  example  of  the  inspired 
Apostles,  the  practice  of  early  Christians 
who  lived  near  the  time  of  Christ  and  the 
Apostles,  and  from  the  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  the  Christian  Sabbath  for 
nineteen  centuries.  Aside  from  the  philo- 
logical argument,  there  is  superabundant 
evidence  of  the  Transfer  of  the  Sabbath 
at  the  Resurrection  ;  still,  if  the  rendering 
of  Matt.  28:1,  and  parallel  passages, 
adopted  in  this  Monograph,  is  correct, 
it  is  decisive,  and  settles  the  question  for 
multitudes  who  do  not  have  the  opportu- 
nity or  requisite  training  to  investigate 
widely  and  deeply  from  original  sources. 
152 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Since  the  first  edition  of  the  Mono- 
graph was  published  the  author  has  made 
a  special  study  of  this  subject,  with  par- 
ticular reference  to  the  underlying  philo- 
logical and  historical  arguments,  availing 
himself  of  all  sources  of  information  within 
his  power.  At  different  times  he  has  pur- 
posely lived  near  the  great  libraries  of 
Boston,  Washington,  and  New  York,  and 
has  held  full  and  free  conversation  with 
learned  men  who  are  familiar  with  many 
languages,  both  ancient  and  modern,  and 
with  Greek  and  Hebrew  professors  who 
make  interpretation  the  work  of  their 
lives.  He  has  endeavored  to  read  every 
book  ever  published  on  the  Sabbath.  As 
a  result  of  such  careful,  long-continued,  and 
critical  study,  he  finds  that  the  rendering 
adopted  in  The  Sabbath  Transferred  is 
not  only  permissible,  but  it  seems  to  him 
to  be  the  only  rendering  possible  con- 
^53 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

sistent  with  the  principles  of  language, 
the  laws  of  thought,  and  the  facts  of  his- 
tory. It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to 
show  the  bottom  facts  of  this  subject,  and 
to  make  the  matter  so  plain  that  no  one 
who  has  eyes  to  see  can  fail  to  perceive  it. 

In  order  that  no  injustice  may  be  done 
to  the  claims  of  the  Sabbatarians,  their 
position  will  be  given  in  the  very  words  of 
one  of  their  leaders,  who,  in  reviewing  The 
Sabbath  Transferred^  used  the  following 
language  : 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  over  the  whole  field  of 
Dr.  Parker's  claims,  since  they  all  center  in  the 
translation  he  makes  of  this  one  phrase  (ez?  }j.iav 
cra/SfiocTGDv).  In  the  discussion  of  the  phrase  he 
indicates  great  lack  of  scholarship  in  that  he 
makes  no  effort  to  show  how  the  phrase  originated 
or  what  idea  it  attempts  to  carry  in  reproducing 
a  certain  Hebrew  idiom.  A  little  investigation 
would  have  shown  him  that  the  Greek  phrase 
which  is  translated  "  first  day  of  the  week  "  in  the 
New  Testament  is  a  reproduction  of  a  Hebrew 
phrase  coined  to  express  the  conception  which  the 
154 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Hebrews  had  of  the  Sabbath  and  its  relation  to  the 
week.  That  conception  made  the  days  of  the 
week  lying  between  the  Sabbaths  to  be  possessed 
by  the  Sabbath.  Starting  at  the  beginning  of  the 
week  they  numbered  each  day  as  belonging  to  the 
Sabbaths.  For  example,  Echad  ba  Shabbaih  is  day 
one  of  the  Sabbaths  ;  Sheni  ba  Shabbath  day  two 
of  the  Sabbaths,  etc.  This  conception  shows  the 
week  as  created  by  the  Sabbath,  and  since  each 
week  lies  between  two  Sabbaths,  we  have  the 
phrase  coined  to  express  a  beautiful  and  important 
idea.  When  the  Greek  sought  to  reproduce  this 
idea  it  used  the  genitive  plural  as  the  best  method 
of  expressing  the  idea  of  possession,  out  of  which 
the  Hebrew  idiom  was  coined.  We  have  there- 
fore a  phrase,  whether  in  the  Hebrew  or  in  "the 
Greek,  deep  as  to  meaning,  logical  and  beautiful  as 
to  rhetorical  structure.  The  translators  of  the 
New  Testament  caught  this  thought  and  gave  the 
correct  translation,  "  first  day  of  the  week."  No 
effort  to  translate  the  phrase  is  worthy  the  claim  of 
original  investigation  which  does  not  go  back  to 
the  Hebrew  idiom  and  to  the  thought  it  embodies. 
Dr.  Parker  either  did  not  know  this,  or  he  carefully 
avoided  all  reference  to  it,  lest  it  should  overthrow 
the  superficial  interpretation  on  which  his  book 
is  based."  [Dr.  A.  H.  Lewis,  in  The  Sabbath  Re- 
corder,  April  i6,  1900.] 

155 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

If  the  statement  in  this  paragraph  were 
true,  it  would  not  disprove  the  Transfer  of 
the  Sabbath  at  the  Resurrection,  for  the 
evidences  of  the  Transfer  are  drawn  from 
many  sources,  but  it  would  take  away  the 
proof  furnished  by  Matt.  28  :  i,  and  par- 
allel passages.  But  unfortunately  for  the 
Seventh  Day  theory,  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
unfolding  of  the  argument  of  this  chapter, 
this  paragraph  from  TJie  Sabbath  Recorder 
has  only  a  glimmer  of  truth  in  it,  except 
the  statement  that  the  phrase  ezV  }xiav 
(japparoDv,  if  translated  correctly  in  the 
Monograph,  is  decisive. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  phrase  eiz  jxiav 
(TafSparoDVy  found  in  Matt.  28  :  i,  was  ren- 
dered '*  toward  the  first  day  of  the  week," 
because  King  James'  translators  thought 
they  saw  an  analogy  in  the  name  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  as  given  in  the  first 

chapter  of  Genesis,  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 
156 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

The  statement  of  Dr.  A.  H.  Lewis,  in 
The  Sabbath  Recorder,  as  quoted  above, 
that  this  peculiar  construction  of  language 
was  extended  to  the  other  days  of  the 
week  is  without  the  slightest  foundation 
in  fact.  The  adjectives  limiting  all  the  days 
of  the  week  in  the  first  chapter  of  Gen- 
esis except  the  first  are  accepted  ordinals, 
differing  in  form  from  the  correspond- 
ing cardinals,  and  no  real  Hebrew  scholar 
ever  disputed  it.  No  analogy  for  trans- 
lating Matt.  28  :  I  as  ''the  first  day  of  the 
week  "  can  be  founded  on  these  other  days 
of  the  week,  for  the  question  touches  only 
the  first  day,  for  the  word  in  Matt.  28  :  i 
is  one  of  the  forms  of  eL'  i^^ia).  If  Doc- 
tor Lewis  knows  anything  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  and  possesses  a  Hebrew  Bible, 
let  him  take  a  look  at  it.  Now,  if  it  can 
be  shown  beyond  a  shadov/  of  doubt  that 
the  alleged  analogy  rests  on  a  false  render- 
157 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

ing,  it  must  be  evident  that  the  reason  for 
translating  the  phrase,  "the  first  day  of 
the  week,"  disappears,  and  the  natural  ren- 
dering of  the  words  '*  toward  one  of  the 
Sabbaths  "  must  be  adopted. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  analogy  is  based 
upon  the  translation  of  "ini^  ni^  (Gen.  i  :  5). 
King  James'  translators  rendered  this  cor- 
rectly "the  first  day,"  and  Luther  in  his 
Bible  renders  it  "  erste  Tag!'  as  an  ordinal 
adjective,  but  many  philologists  seem  to 
have  thought  that  the  word  "ini5<  is  a  car- 
dinal numeral  adjective,  and,  therefore, 
have  rendered  it  "  day  one."  In  this  case 
the  cardinal  adjective  and  ordinal  adjective 
in  Hebrew  have  the  same  form,  in^,  so  it 
was  easy  to  mistake  one  for  the  other.  As 
all  the  other  numeral  adjectives  desig- 
nating the  periods  of  creation  are  ordinals, 
and  as  numbering  a  series  would  require 

this  usage,  it  is   natural  to   suppose   that 
158 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

this  is  also  an  ordinal  adjective,  as  King 
James'  translators  rendered  it.  The  author 
of  Genesis  was  giving  the  orderly  sequence 
of  the  periods  of  creation,  and  tells  us 
what  transpired  in  each  period.  Now,  to 
tell  us  that  certain  events  occurred  on 
"  day  one  "  is  indefinite,  and  contrary  to 
his  purpose  of  giving  an  orderly  sequence 
of  the  periods  of  creation.  All  events 
that  occur  within  the  limited  time,  whether 
it  be  the  first  or  sixth  day,  transpire  on 
''  one  day."  "  One  day  "  might  be  any 
day  of  the  week,  but  the  *'  first  day  "  of 
the  week  indicates  and  determines  the 
order  of  sequence.  It  seems  to  lower  the 
plane  of  inspiration  to  accept  the  sugges- 
tion of  a  certain  Hebraist  that  the  author 
of  Genesis,  being  gratified  that  a  full  day 
was  completed,  called  it  ''  one  day,"  or  of 
another  writer  that  there  was  no  succes- 
sion of  days  till  after  the  second  day 
159 


'    THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

began,  and  he  did  not  venture  to  use 
the  ordinal  adjective  until  the  second  day 
began.  In  describing  the  events  that 
transpired  during  each  of  the  other  five 
periods  the  author  uses  the  ordinal  adjec- 
tive for  each  period,  as  seen  at  a  glance  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible.  As  the  author  of 
Genesis  was  describing  creative  acts,  wit- 
nessed by  no  man  on  earth,  and  as  he 
gives  a  cosmogony  that  agrees  in  sub- 
stance with  geology  whose  facts  became 
known  at  a  much  later  period,  he  must 
have  been  on  the  highest  plane  of  inspira- 
tion, and  would  not  employ  a  wrong 
adjective,  on  the  principle  that  the  greater 
includes  the  less.  It  is  more  natural  to 
suppose  that  the  Seventy  uninspired  trans- 
lators of  the  Septuagint  mistook  the  two 
adjectives,  which  are  identical  in  form,  the 
same  form  being  used  as  a  cardinal  and 

an  ordinal,  employing  one  for  the  other. 
1 60 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

When  the  same  form  in^  is  used  both 
as  a  cardinal  and  an  ordinal  numeral 
adjective,  how  easy  it  would  be  to  mistake 
one  for  the  other  ! 

Hebrew  scholars  seem  to  differ  in 
opinion  in  regard  to  "ini?;?  grammatically. 
Some  regard  it  as  originally  a  cardinal  nu- 
meral adjective,  but  say  it  came  to  be  used 
as  an  ordinal.  Professor  Gottheil,  the 
accomplished  professor  of  Oriental  lan- 
guages in  Columbia  University,  who  has 
studied  at  three  German  universities,  and 
is  familiar  with  Sanskrit,  Arabic,  Hebrew, 
and  other  Semitic  languages,  says  that 
"in^  was  primarily  an  ordinal  numeral  ad- 
jective, although  it  was  often  used  as  a 
cardinal  adjective.  All  Hebrew  scholars 
agree  that  the  same  form  was  used  both 
as  an  ordinal  and  a  cardinal.  Philologists 
tell  us  that  in  early  ages  words  were  not 

used  with  as  much  precision  as  in  modern 
i6i 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

times,  and  quite  frequently  words  grew  to 
have  other  meanings,  and  passed  over  the 
class  limits  to  become  another  part  of 
speech.  Originally  there  was  but  one  lan- 
guage, for  "  the  whole  earth  was  of  one 
language,  and  of  one  speech  "  (Gen.  1 1  :  i), 
and  growth  must  account  for  the  more  than 
one  thousand  languages  spoken  on  the 
globe.  Growth  has  also  caused  thousands 
of  dialects  that  differ  to  some  extent,  still 
have  some  resemblances. 

In  Hebrew  there  is  another  word, 
]1ti^^"l,  meaning  first.  If  the  creation  had 
not  been  an  evolution,  commencing  with 
the  lowest  forms  in  the  vegetable  king- 
dom, like  the /j^^^^'^i-,  and  developed  into 
higher  forms  of  life,  under  the  laws  of  Evo- 
lution, until  man,  the  crown  of  creation, 
came  into  being,  this  word  would  naturally 
have  been  used.  But  l^tr^xn  not  only  sig- 
nifies the  first  in  time  (the  word  needed  to 
162 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

indicate  the  order  of  sequence  of  the  pe- 
riods of  creation),  but  the  first  in  impor- 
tance, being  derived  from  tr^x'l,  meaning 
head,  and,  therefore,  would  not  be  appro- 
priate as  limiting  the  first  period  of  crea- 
tion. As  the  word  sometimes  means  head, 
highest,  chief,  it  could  not  properly  be  used 
as  limiting  the  first  period  of  creation,  and 
therefore  the  author  of  Genesis  evidently 
used  in^. 

One  peculiarity  is  noticeable  in  the  He- 
brew numeral  adjectives.  The  ordinals 
from  two  to  ten  are  derived  from  the  car- 
dinals and  resemble  them  very  much  in 
form,  as  if  they  were  closely  related.  The 
cardinal  int;?,  however,  has  no  derivable 
ordinal,  but  the  form  of  the  cardinal  and 
ordinal  is  identical.  To  say  that  "in^?  is 
a  cardinal,  but  is  used  as  an  ordinal,  vio- 
lates a  rule  in  grammar,  for  a  word  is  always 

classified   grammatically  according  to  its 
163 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

use.  To  translate  "ini;^  as  a  cardinal  when 
analogy  and  the  laws  of  thought  require  it 
to  be  an  ordinal  is  a  blunder  pure  and 
simple. 

While  the  second  edition  of  The  Sab- 
bath Transferred  was  in  course  of  prep- 
aration, the  author  wrote  to  Dr.  G.  W. 
Clark,  the  learned  author  of  The  People  s 
Commentary y  in  regard  to  the  use  of  this 
word,  and  he  replied,  saying  that  ''intj 
is  in  Hebrew  a  cardinal,  but  is  used  as  an 
ordinal  in  designating  the  first  day  of  the 
month.  The  fact  is  the  cardinal  number 
*  one  '  is  used  in  commencing  a  series,  or  in 
naming  a  day,  or  a  year,  as  though  it  were 
an  ordinal  yfr^/.  In  many  places  it  is  really 
equivalent  to  the  first  day,  and  I  think  can 
be  so  translated."  In  designating  the  pe- 
riods of  creation,  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis,   the    Seventy  called  them  i^^Aspa 

/Aia  {Ttpwt)^?),   t}).iepa  devrepa^   yixipa   rpirrj, 
164 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Tfjjiipa  Teraftrrjy  rff-iepa  7tB}X7irr],  r/piipa  eKtrj. 
Putting  these  Greek  words  into  their 
equivalents  in  Latin,  as  found  in  the  Vul- 
gate (as  the  Latin  words  are  more  familiar 
to  the  ordinary  reader),  we  have  dies  umis 
(^pri7nus  .^),  dies  secunduSy  dies  lertius,  dies 
qtiartus,  dies  qtdntus,  dies  sextus.  Any 
one  who  can  read  Caesar's  Commentaries 
can  see  that  the  Seventy  committed  an 
error  in  translating  irit>*  by  ///«,  whose  equiv- 
alent is  tinus.  What  man  in  his  right 
senses  would  say  one,  second,  third,  etc., 
what  Latin  scholar  would  say  unus,  secun- 
dus,  tertius,  etc.,  or  what  Greek  scholar 
would  say  jxia,  devrapa,  rpirrjy  etc.  ?  The 
Seventy  were  good  and  learned  men,  but 
they  made  some  mistakes.  The  Bible  Dic- 
tionary says:  ''The  version  [of  the  Sep- 
tuagint]  is  faithful  in  substance  as  a 
whole,  but  contains  many  errors."  On  this 
false  rendering.  King  James'  translators  of 
165 


,THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

the  Bible  thought  that  they  discovered  an 
analogy  which  authorized  them  to  trans- 
late ez's  ^iav  aafSftaraDv  (Matt.  28  :  l), 
*' toward  the  first  day  of  the  week."  This 
blunder  in  translation  seems  to  be  com- 
paratively harmless  in  Genesis,  but  when 
it  comes  over  as  a  supposed  analogy  into 
the  New  Testament,  it  does  violence  to 
the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  and  tends  to  rob 
him  of  one  of  his  most  precious  jewels. 

Some  linguists  claim  that  crapparGoy, 
occurring  in  Matt.  28  :  i,  is  the  plural 
form  used  for  the  singular.  In  that  case 
they  tell  us  we  could  not  translate  the 
phrase  "one  of  the  Sabbaths."  Should 
this  be  granted,  we  could  still  translate  it 
one  day  of  the  Sabbath,  and  find  a  parallel 
usage  in  the  Septuagint,  in  Exodus  20 : 8, 
fjivtia^rfti  rrfv  rfjAspav  r^v  (Ta/S^arGov  ayia- 
^eiv  avrrfv. 

One  eminent  linguist  seems  to  be  un- 
166 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

necessarily  timid.  In  the  ultimate  settle- 
ment of  philological  questions,  he  fears 
the  new  rendering  of  Matt.  28  :  i,  "  toward 
one  of  the  Sabbaths,"  will  not  be  accord- 
ing to  the  final  verdict  of  philologists,  and 
there  will  be  a  reaction  in  public  opinion 
against  the  Christian  Sabbath.  How  can 
a  "reaction"  follow  the  correction  of  a 
false  translation  ?  This  reminds  one  of  an 
incident  in  pioneer  life  in  the  far  West.  It 
is  reported  that  a  hunter  who  lived  on 
game  exclusively  at  last  bought  a  rifle 
and  discarded  his  traps,  but  he  was  so  fear- 
ful that  the  gun  would  kick  that  he  never 
dare  discharge  it.  All  kinds  of  game  lost 
their  timidity  and  came  close  to  his  little 
cabin,  and  sometimes  a  deer  would  stop 
and  look  into  the  open  door,  but  the 
hunter  dare  not  shoot,  and  actually  starved 
to  death  for  fear  of  the  reaction  of  the  gun 

should  he  discharge  it.    It  is  by  discussion, 
16/ 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

action  and  reaction,  that  most  human 
questions  are  settled  and  the  truth  ulti- 
mately advanced.  Nothing  is  gained  by- 
perpetuating  venerable  errors. 

This  false  translation  in  the  Septuagint 
leads  Dr.  A.  H.  Lewis  to  call  the  word, 
which  evidently  is  falsely  translated,  a 
"  Hebrew  idiom,"  and  says  it  was  "  coined 
to  express  a  beautiful  and  important  idea," 
and  immediately  adds  that  "•  when  the 
Greek  sought  to  reproduce  this  idea  it  used 
the  genitive  plural!  "  How  a  man  wear- 
ing a  sacred  title  after  his  name  could 
utter  almost  in  the  same  breath  two  such 
false  statements,  one  false  in  philology 
and  the  other  false  in  history  (as  will  be 
shown  in  the  further  development  of  this 
argument),  passes  comprehension.  One 
might  suppose  that  in  his  meditations  he 
would    sometimes    think    of   the   fate    of 

Ananias. 

i68 


SA  BDA  TA  RIA  mSM 

Thus  it  is  clearly  seen  that  the  render- 
ing of  the  phrase  ezs  ^iav  aafSparoov 
(Matt.  28  :  i)  as  the  first  day  of  the  week 
is  incorrect,  because  it  is  based  on  a  sup- 
posed analogy  in  the  Hebrew  that  rests  on 
a  false  translation  in  the  Septuagint. 

The  following  testimonials  from  distin- 
guished Hebrew  scholars  are  appended  to 
this  argument  for  the  benefit  of  many  per- 
sons who  are  not  familiar  with  the  original 
languages  of  the  Bible,  and  who  rely  more 
on  the  testimony  of  eminent  linguists  than 
upon  philological  proofs  to  arrive  at  the 
truth. 

From   Prof.   Richard  Gottheil,  LL.D.,  of 
Columbia  University,  New  York : 

"  The    word    used    in   Genesis   i  :  5   for 

the  first  is  very  often  used  as  a  cardinal, 

though  it  is,  primarily,  an  ordinal  number. 

This  is  especially  true  when  it  is  used  to 
169 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

designate  the  days  of  the  month.  There, 
therefore,  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  used 
as  an  ordinal  in  the  passage  in  question." 

From  Dr.  Edward  E.  Braithwaite,  Profes- 
sor of  Hebrew  in  Oberlin  Theological 
Seminary  : 

''Replying  to  yours  of  March  4th,  I 
would  say  that  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
accept  the  explanation  of  Gesenius  as  to 
the  use  of  nnh?  in  Gen.  i  15.  This  is,  that 
the  meaning ^r^^  is  derived  from  the  con- 
text." 

From  Prof.  Robert  M.  Rogers,  Ph.D., 
D.D.,  of  Drew  Theological  Seminary, 
Madison,  N.  J.: 

« "iHiJ   is    originally   a  cardinal,    but   it 

is  used  in  certain    places   as   an   ordinal, 

numbering  the  days  of  the  month  ;  but  it  is 

not  so  used  for  numbering  the  months, 
170 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Jity'XI  taking  its  place.  I  regard  it  as  an 
ordinal  in  Gen.  i  15,  2  :  ii,  etc.,  but  the 
meaning  of  first  is  derived  solely  from 
the  context." 

From  Prof.  C.  M.  Shepard,  of  the  Gen- 
eral Theological  Seminary,  New  York 
City: 

*'  I  think  that  T\%  in  Gen.  1:5,  is 
used  as  an  ordinal  without  doubt,  though 
the  only  proof  of  it  is  in  the  context."  .  .  . 

From  Prof.  F.  B.  Denio,  D.D.,  of  Bangor 
Theological  Seminary  : 

"  Yours  of  a  recent  date  relative  to  the 
use  of  "int$  has  reached  me.  As  you  say, 
the  remaining  adjectives  in  that  chap- 
ter (Gen.  i,)  are  ordinals  where  the 
context  is  the  same.  Further,  Brown's 
Hebrew  Lexicon,  now  publishing  by  the 

Oxford  University  Press,  shows  that  there 
171 


.       THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

are  several  other  places  where  "in^?.  is  used 
in  the  ordinal  sense.  I  see  no  reason  why 
in  Gen.  i  :  5  we  should  not  treat  it  as  an 
ordinal." 

It  must  be  evident  that  if  the  received 
translation  of  Matt.  28  :  i  rests  on  a  sup- 
posed analogy  based  on  a  false  translation, 
the  alleged  analogy  has  no  foundation  in 
fact,  and  must  be  given  up,  for  the  ac- 
cepted rendering  is  incorrect.  The  trans- 
lation of  the  phrase  eh  }xiav  aa/S^araov 
(Matt.  28  :  i), ''  toward  the  first  day  of  the 
week,"  must,  therefore,  be  rejected  and  the 
natural  meaning  of  the  words,  toward  one 
of  the  Sabbaths,  must  be  received.  It  must 
be  evident  to  all  unprejudiced  persons 
familiar  with  Greek  and  Hebrew,  that  this 
philological  argument  is  conclusive,  and 
nothing  need  be  added  to  it  to  strengthen 
it.  The  argument  stands  as  an  impreg- 
nable rock  in  the  ocean,  and  the  tumultu- 
172 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

ous  waves  of  Sabbatarianism  beat  upon  it 
in  vain. 

There  are  other  reasons,  however,  why 
the  statements  in  The  Sabbath  Recorder 
already  quoted  are  utterly  groundless.  As 
further  proof  of  this  it  may  be  added  that 
the  Greeks  did  not  derive  their  septenary 
division  of  time  from  the  Hebrews,  but 
from  Egypt.  The  ancient  Greeks  divided 
the  month  into  three  periods  of  ten  days 
each.  The  following  statement  from  Dr. 
W.  S.  B.  Woolhouse,  author  of  Meas- 
tires  and  Weights  for  All  Natio7is,  ought 
to  be  sufficient  proof  of  this  fact.  He 
says :  "  The  [ancient]  Greeks  divided 
the  month  into  decades,  or  periods,  of  ten 
days  each,  which  was  imitated  by  the 
French  in  their  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
introduce  a  new  calendar  in  the  Revolu- 
tion."— Encyclopcsdia  Brztannzca,  vol.  4, 
page  590. 

173 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

It  is  also  a  well-known  fact  that  the 
modern  Greeks  derived  their  septenary 
division  of  time  from  Egypt,  and  not  from 
the  Hebrews.  This  fact  is  stated  by 
*'  Dion  Cassius,  who  wrote  in  the  second 
century,  and  speaks  of  it  [week]  as  both 
universal  and  recent  in  his  time.  He  rep- 
resents it  as  coming  from  Egypt." — Mc- 
Clintock  and  Strongs  Cyclopcedia^  vol. 
12,  page  897. 

Again,  the  very  names  of  the  days  of 
the  week,  given  at  the  close  of  this  chap- 
ter, are  sufficient  proof  to  show  that  the 
Greeks  did  not  derive  the  name  of  the 
days  of  the  week  from  the  Hebrews.  If 
a  man  can  discover  any  analogy  between 
"inij  cv  and  tf  KvpiaKrj  rj^spa,  OX  between 
^'^^n  c1^  and  v  TtapaaKvrf^  he  must  have  an 
unusual  power  for  discovering  verbal  rela- 
tionships. 

We  have  also  abundant  evidence  in  the 
174 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Greek  language  that  the  Greeks  used  the 
ordinal  numeral  adjectives  in  designating 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  seen  in  the 
following  examples  : 

Avacrxocz  dh  npooi  Ttpoorri  aafiftatov, 

Mark  i6:  9. 
Tij  de  Ttpaotfj  rcov  aQvpiGov.  Matt.  26:17. 

Kai  rrj  Ttpaorrj  VM^P^  '^^'^  a^vpiGJV.  Mark  14: 12. 
Atto    TtpGotrjS  1^/AepaS  a(p    7/5"  enijSrjy  ezS"  rrjv 

^Aaiav.     Acts  20  :  18. 
Atto  TrpGorrjZ  rjjxepaz  o^XP^  '^oi5  vvv.      Phil,  i  :  5. 

Thus  we  have  four  substantial  reasons, 
each  of  which  would  be  sufficient,  to  prove 
that  the  analogy  which  some  have  tried 
to  find  in  this  case  does  not  exist,  or 
would  not  have  been  applied.  The  rea- 
sons stated  briefly  are  as  follows  : 

1.  The  supposed  analogy  is  evidently 
based  on  a  false  translation. 

2.  The  Greeks  did  not  derive  their  sep- 
tenary division  of  time  from  the  Hebrews. 

17s 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

3.  The  words  employed  to  designate 
the  days  of  the  week  in  the  Hebrew  and 
the  Greek  languages  do  not  show  sufficient 
resemblance  to  prove  derivation. 

4.  The  Greeks  in  designating  the  first 
day  of  the  week  employed  the  word  npwroz. 

In  reading  such  a  paragraph  as  is  taken 
from  The  Sabbath  Recorder,  one  is  re- 
minded of  an  incident  in  French  lex- 
icography. It  is  said  that  the  French 
lexicographers,  who  probably  had  not 
made  a  special  study  of  Natural  History, 
framed  the  definition  of  a  crab  as  follows  : 

"  Crab — A  small  red  fish  that  walks 
backward." 

When  they  had  completed  the  definition 

they  submitted  it  for  correction  to  Cuvier, 

who  happened  to  pass  through  the  room. 

The  great  naturalist  stopped  a  moment  to 

hear  it,  and   then,   while    a   smile  passed 

over  his  countenance,  said  in  substance : 
176 


SABBA  TARIANirAf 

**  Gentlemen,  your  definition  is  excellent, 
but  allow  me  to  make  a  few  suggestions  : 

"  I.  A  crab  is  not  a  fish. 

"  2.   It  is  not  red. 

"  3.   It  does  not  walk  backward. 

''  With  these  few  corrections  in  the  way 
of  Natural  History  your  definition  would 
be  perfect ! " 

When  the  great  naturalist  had  made  his 
few  corrections,  a  curious  expression  was 
visible  on  the  countenances  of  the  French 
lexicographers,  and  they  concluded,  after 
a  brief  conference,  to  throw  the  definition 
into  the  waste-basket.  Would  that  Sab- 
batarians, when  they  see  the  absolute  ground- 
lessness of  their  claims  as  to  the  Sabbath, 
might  be  as  wise,  and  give  up  what  the 
Apostle  Peter  would  probably  call  (2  Peter 
2  :  i)  a  ''damnable  heresy." 

Sabbatarians  cannot  be  held  guiltless  in 
desecrating  the  Lord's  Day,  for  they  will 
177 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

undoubtedly  tremble  at  the  Judgment  day 
when  they  see  the  Judge,  and  call  to  mind 
that  when  God  descended  on  Mount 
Sinai  he  said,  '*  Remember  the  Sabbath 
day  to  keep  it  holy,"  and  who  has  given 
superabundant  proof  in  his  Sacred  Word 
that  the  Institution  was  transferred  at  the 
Resurrection ;  but  they  are  not  the  only 
ones  to  be  blamed.  The  origin  of  the 
heresy  lies  deeper,  in  a  false  translation  in- 
corporated into  lexicons  and  grammars 
and  cyclopaedias  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  and  even  reflected  on  the  Sacred 
Page  by  revisionists  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  lexicographers  and  grammari- 
ans who  thought  that  they  had  discovered 
an  idiom,  or  an  exception,  entitling  them 
to  say  *'  one  of  the  Sabbaths,"  as  mean- 
ing the  first  day  of  the  week,  evidently 
only  found  a  blunder  in  the  Septuagint. 

In     two     thousand    years    this    blunder 
178 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

has   grown    hoar    with    age,  and  now    it 
is  so   deeply  rooted  in    philology  that   it 
defies  the  world.     In   the  fable,  the  vine 
craved  the  privilege  of  sleeping  a  single 
night  in  the  arms  of  the  oak,  just  to  rest 
itself,  but  in  the  morning  its  tendrils  were 
so  entwined  about  the  branches  of  the  oak 
that  it  never  could  be  shaken  off.     This 
false    rendering,  like   the    poison-ivy,   has 
twined  about  the   Bible,  and  sent  out  its 
tendrils  among  the  leaves  of  dictionaries, 
grammars,  and  cyclopaedias  so  long  that 
nothing  less  than  an  archangel  or  a  thun- 
derbolt   can    detach   it.      When   linguists 
talk  about   it  they  look  wise,  and  one  is 
reminded  of  the  tradition  that  it  was  im- 
pious to  ask  what  the  tortoise  stood  on. 
Multitudes  of  deluded  people  point  a  fin- 
ger at  it,  shake  their  heads,  and  then  pass 
on,  apparently  with  wicked  glee,  to  dese- 
crate the  Lord's  Day.     A  lady,  who  spent 
179 


'       THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

some  time  in  the  Sanitarium  in  Battle 
Creek,  Mich.,  says  on  Saturday,  in  the 
Sanitarium,  one  can  hear  a  pin  drop,  the 
day  is  observed  so  rigorously,  but  on  Sun- 
day "  one  would  think  that  everything 
had  broken  loose."  This  blunder  in  the 
Septuagint  is  the  Upas  tree  of  Sabbath 
interpretation,  and  its  secretions  and  exu- 
dations are  very  poisonous.  This  tree  of 
false  interpretation  shoots  down  its  roots 
into  the  lexicons  and  grammars,  and 
pushes  out  its  branches  into  every  nation 
where  the  Bible  is  known,  and  poisons 
the  very  air  breathed  by  the  Christian 
Church.  Large  sums  of  money  are  in- 
vested in  colleges  and  institutions  whose 
foundations  were  laid  by  reason  of  this 
false  translation.  Multitudes  of  deluded 
people,  basing  their  faith  on  teachings 
drawn  from  this  false   rendering,  go  out 

into  the  fields   and    into    their  places   of 
1 80 


SABBA  TARTANISM 

business  every  week  to  desecrate  the 
Lord's  Day,  and  it  may  be  fairly  asked, 
What  other  foundation  than  the  English 
version  of  the  Bible  can  an  American 
laboring  man  build  on  ?  Lexicographers 
and  grammarians  pour  the  oil  of  this  mis- 
translation into  the  lamp  of  Sabbatarians, 
and  then  every-day  Christians,  who  lack 
the  training  to  study  the  Bible  in  the 
original  languages,  wonder  why  this  de- 
lusive lamp  continues  to  burn  so  long  ! 
In  some  parts  of  this  country,  loud- 
voiced  Sabbatarians,  who  have  just  enough 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  to  repeat  the  par- 
rot-like expressions  and  shibboleths  of 
Sabbatarianism,  with  the  chapter  and  verse 
at  the  end  of  the  tongue,  will  go  about 
the  country  with  tents  and  challenge  the 
resident  clergy  of  some  town  to  discuss 
the    Sabbath    question.       Thousands    of 

faithful     pastors    feel    assured    that    the 
iSi 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

Seventh-day  views  are  false,  but  unfor- 
tunately many  are  not  familiar  enough 
with  the  Transfer  theory  of  the  Sabbath  to 
prove  it,  and,  therefore,  naturally  decline 
to  discuss  the  question.  These  itinerant 
Sabbatarians,  some  of  whom  seem  to  be 
pachydermatous,  consider  this  non-accept- 
ance of  the  challenge  as  a  victory,  and 
with  wonderful  self-assurance  gather  in 
crowds  of  people  and  indoctrinate  them 
with  these  false  views.  The  Lord's  Day 
thus  loses  its  authority  and  sanctity  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  who  seem  to  take 
special  delight  in  polluting  it.  The  cause 
of  genuine  religion  loses  ground,  and 
young  men  make  the  Lord's  Day  a  time 
of  recreation  and  sport.  While  this  is 
going  on,  grave  theological  professors  and 
Doctors  of  Divinity  hold  fast  the  philo- 
logical traditions,  and  Satan  is  without 
doubt  delighted.     When  shall  this  poison- 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

ous  tree  of  interpretation  be  plucked  up 
by  the  roots,  and  all  this  foolishness  and 
wickedness  cease  ?  Would  not  lexicog- 
raphers, grammarians,  encyclopaedists,  and 
revisionists  do  a  praiseworthy  act  by  mak- 
ing this  correction,  and  not  mislead  the 
world  any  longer  ? 

As  this  incorrect  rendering  of  Matt. 
28  :  I,  based  on  a  supposed  analogy  which 
rests  on  a  false  translation  in  the  Septua- 
gint,  and  finds  no  support  in  history,  has 
for  a  long  time  been  the  chief  support  of 
Sabbatarianism,  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  after  the  error  has  been  detected  and 
pointed  out  this  delusion  will  collapse. 
But  after  men  have  embarked  in  delu- 
sions, and  secured  places  and  power  and 
influence,  and  a  following,  and  after  capi- 
tal has  been  invested  in  buildings  and 
endowments  for  colleges,  churches,  and 
societies,  etc.,  delusions  die  slowly.     When 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

men   are   publicly   committed    to    heresy 

they  are  slow  to  change,  dreading  to  lose 

their    consistency    and    their    following. 

Paul,  however,  did  not  belong  to  this  class, 

and  he  secured  a  crown  of  life.     Paul  was 

very  strict  in  the  observance  of  the  Jewish 

Sabbath,   but   after   the   Resurrection  he 

kept  the  Transferred  Sabbath  (Acts  20  :  7), 

following  the  example  of  the  Master  (John 

20:19).     It  is  far  more  important  to  be 

true  to  the  Master  than  to  maintain  one's 

consistency    at    the    expense    of    reason. 

Men  are  responsible  for  their  belief  as  far 

as  they  have  power  and    opportunity  to 

know   the   truth.     Delusion    resembles  a 

rank,  noxious  weed  which  remains  green 

for  a  long  time  after  it  is  pulled  up  by  the 

roots,    and    only    disappears    after    it    is 

burned  up   in  a  hot  fire,  and  sometimes 

even  then  it  leaves  a  bad  odor  in  the  air. 

Error    seems    possessed   of    a   malignant 
184 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Spirit,  and  after  the  error  dies  there  re- 
mains an  evil  influence.  Bigots  are  apt 
to  retain  a  scoffing  spirit  after  their  argu- 
ments have  been  answered.  Like  Beech- 
er's  dog,  Noble,  that  barked  for  months 
at  a  hole  in  the  wall  after  the  squirrel  had 
passed  through  it,  some  men  who  never 
read  between  the  lines,  and  never  go  down 
to  the  bottom  facts,  or  test  their  work  by 
philosophical  principles,  will  follow  some 
delusion  all  their  lives,  and  die  at  last  as 
the  fool  dieth.  Solomon  mentions  several 
kinds  of  fools,  but  none  exhibit  more  folly 
than  the  '*  delusion  fool."  Some  men  re- 
semble the  clergyman  who  remained  stead- 
fast until  death  in  the  belief  ''that  the  sun 
do  move."  It  is  a  fair  question  to  ask. 
How  long  can  a  Sabbatarian  stand  when 
he  has  nothing  to  stand  on  ? 

Some  heresies,  which  Peter  with  right- 
eous   indignation    would     probably    call 
185 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

"damnable,"  resemble  an  iceberg  that 
glistens  in  the  sun  and  floats  for  a  time  as 
if  it  had  some  substantial  being,  and  is 
actually  dangerous  to  voyagers.  Six- 
sevenths  of  an  iceberg  lie  beneath  the  sur- 
face, so  often  the  largest  and  most  danger- 
ous part  of  a  heresy  lies  beneath  the  sur- 
face disguised.  But  fortunately  icebergs 
as  a  rule  tend  towards  the  equator  from 
both  poles,  and  in  time  all  icebergs  will 
melt,  and  it  is  hoped  that  all  heresies,  even 
Sabbatarianism,  will  dissolve  and  disap- 
pear like  the  iceberg  under  the  sunlight  of 
the  twentieth  century. 

While  some  Sabbatarians  are  zealots, 
and  when  opposed  are  apt  to  fly  into  a 
passion,  and  are  called  "pestiferous,"  it 
must  be  admitted  that  many  Seventh-day 
people  are  sincere  in  their  views,  and  are 
truly   devout,   and   would  gladly  observe 

the   Lord's   Day  if   they   knew  that   the 
i36 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

Sabbath  had  been  transferred  at  the  Resur- 
rection ;  but  they  are  kept  in  ignorance  of 
this  fact.  Seventh-day  people  are  greatly 
impressed  with  the  Fourth  Commandment, 
and  emphasize  it,  but  never  having  been 
taught  that  the  Sabbath  is  an  Institution, 
a  Divine  Appointment,  which  can  be 
placed  on  or  taken  off  from  a  secular  day, 
or  transferred  from  one  secular  day  to 
another,  they  feel  that  it  is  a  religious  duty 
to  worship  God  on  Saturday  according  to 
the  old  Mosaic  economy.  They  are  not 
culpable  for  worshiping  God  on  Satur- 
day, but  for  working  on  the  Transferred 
Sabbath.  Worship  of  God  at  any  time, 
or  in  any  place,  must  be  acceptable  to 
him,  but  a  reaper  or  mower  buzzing  in 
the  field  on  the  Lord's  Day  cannot  be 
acceptable  to  God,  and  the  noise  sadly 
disturbs  the    meditations   of   a   Christian 

assembly.     The    attitude    of   believers   in 
187 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

the  Transferred  Sabbath  towards  those 
who  hold  Seventh-day  views  should  be 
one  of  kindness.  Paul  had  the  true  atti- 
tude when  he  said  :  "  I  have  great  heavi- 
ness and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart. 
For  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  ac- 
cursed from  Christ  [a  rhetorical  expression 
showing  the  depth  of  his  sorrow]  for  my 
brethren,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the 
flesh."  When  we  believe  in  the  truth,  the 
truth  will  make  us  free.  Christian  liberty 
implies  freedom  from  sin,  and  from  big- 
otry, delusion,  and  superstition.  Sabbata- 
rians are  better  than  their  theology,  for 
theology  ought  to  be  a  help  to  spiritual 
life  rather  than  a  hindrance. 

Reviewers  of  The  Sabbath  Transferred^ 
in  its  first  edition,  have  frequently  spoken 
of  its  excellent  spirit.  A  distinguished 
scholar  in  a  recent  letter   to    the  author 

says  :  **  It  breathes  the  true  spirit  on  every 
i88 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

page."  But  sometimes  a  wise  and  kind 
physician  changes  his  treatment  of  the 
patient,  and  puts  on  a  bhster,  when  he 
thinks  the  case  demands  it.  A  blister  has 
been  known  to  save  a  Hfe.  Sabbatarianism 
evidently  needs  a  blister,  for  sometimes 
nothing  but  a  **  whip  of  scorpions"  will 
bring  men  to  their  senses. 

Farmers  tell  us  that  there  is  only  one 
way  to  exterminate  Canada  thistles.  Plow- 
ing them  up  will  not  do  it,  for  the  frag- 
ments of  roots  left  in  the  ground  will  grow 
and  produce  another  crop.  But  if  the 
thistles  are  cut  down  often  enough  to  pre- 
vent them  from  seeding,  the  old  stock  will 
in  time  die  out  and  disappear,  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  the  farmer.  If  a  malignant 
heresy  whose  life  seems  to  pervade  every 
root  and  branch  is  prevented  by  the  light 
of  truth,  through  the  pulpit  and  the  press, 

from    propagating  itself  by  making   new 
189 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

converts,  when  the  original  heretics,  who 
are  insensible  to  argument y  pass  away  from 
the  earth,  the  heresy  will  die  out  and  the 
world  will  be  free  from  the  evil.  It  is  re- 
ported that  a  man  once  said  "  his  mind 
was  open  to  conviction,  but  he  would  like 
to  see  the  man  who  could  convince  him." 
Students  versed  in  the  Greek  language 
have  often  thought  it  strange  when  craftfta- 
roDv  occurs  in  the  plainest  prose,  twice  in 
the  same  verse,  in  Matt.  28  :  i,  the  words 
being  close  enough  together  to  be  twin 
brothers,  one  should  be  translated  ''  Sab- 
bath "  and  the  other  "week."  Brothers 
generally  have  the  same  name.  When  a 
Greek  student  reads  Matt.  28  :  i,  in  King 
James'  version,  he  feels  that  there  is  some 
malign  influence  in  the  air  deflecting  the 
words  from  the  true  meaning,  but  he  may  not 
suspect  that  the  reason  originated  two  thou- 
sand years  ago  in  a  mistranslation.  Then 
190 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

the  commonly  received  translation,  "  first 
day  of  the  week,"  does  violence  to  "  jiiav,'' 
twists  it  all  out  of  shape.  When  the  Trans- 
fer is  accepted  all  of  these  difficulties  dis- 
appear, the  words  take  on  their  natural 
meaning,  the  twin  brothers  become  frater- 
nal, the  twist  comes  out  of  ''  ^iav,''  and 
the  whole  linguistic  atmosphere  seems 
clarified.  As  a  Divine  Institution  the 
Transferred  Sabbath  becomes  historic.  It 
still  retains  the  aroma  of  Paradise,  reminds 
one  of  Mount  Sinai,  when  the  touch  of 
God  made  the  mountain  smoke  and 
tremble,  and  is  also  made  more  sacred 
by  the  precious  drops  of  blood  of  Him 
who  died  for  man,  and  came  out  of  the 
sepulcher  as  a  Mighty  Conqueror.  It 
seems  like  a  "  touch  divine  "  when  Mat- 
thew, the  Apostle,  speaks  [Matt.  28  :  i] 
of  the  Sabbath  as  it  ceased  to  be  Jewish, 

and  in  the  same  verse  speaks  of  the  Sab- 
191 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

bath  as  it  began  to  be  Christian.  Thus 
we  see  the  last  Sabbath  as  it  terminated 
the  series  of  holy  days  under  the  Jewish 
economy,  and  the  first  Sabbath  after  the 
Transfer  under  the  Christian  dispensation. 
As  a  flash  of  lightning  sometimes  illu- 
minates the  whole  landscape,  so  the  passage 
of  Matt.  28  :  I,  a  holy  flash  of  God's 
truth,  shows  us  the  ending  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  unfolding  economies  of  grace, 
and  in  both  cases  the  same  Institution 
under  both  economies  was  kept  holy. 

In  the  Gospel  of  Peter  occurs  a  passage 

which  speaks  of  the  convulsions  of  Nature 

on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection.    Matt. 

28:2  says  there  was  a  great   earthquake 

(o-eicr/id?  /xeyas).      The   Gospel   of    Peter 

calls    it    a    great     noise   in    the    heaven 

{pieyaXr;    (paovrj  iv  tS   ovpavw).      Men  who 

have    experienced    the   shock   of   violent 
192 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

earthquakes  say  it  is  very  difficult  to  deter- 
mine the  exact  cause  of  the  noise,  or 
whence  it  proceeds.  A  traveler  speaking 
of  a  violent  seismic  disturbance  says  the 
noise  was  stunning,  as  if  the  top  of  the 
mountain  was  torn  off.  The  passage  from 
the  Gospel  of  Peter  is  also  very  significant 
in  using  the  same  word,  eTtKfxixTKGo,  em- 
ployed by  Matthew  in  connection  with 
the  Transfer  of  the  Sabbath.  The  passage 
says  (and  the  attention  of  Sabbatarians 
is  called  specially  to  the  statement)  that 
it  was  the  Lord's  Day  (7  KvpiaKij)  that 
dawned  at  the  Resurrection,  and  not 
merely  the  "  first  day  of  the  week,"  as 
Sabbatarians  contend.  When  the  great 
noise  was  heard  by  the  soldiers  they  were 
keeping  guard  two  by  two  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Roman  army.  Persons 
familiar  with  the  Greek,  after  reading  this 
passage,  will  see  abundant  evidence  that 
193 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

the  morning  of  the  Resurrection  intro- 
duced the  Christian  Sabbath  as  an  Institu- 
tion.    The  passage  reads  as  follows : 

Trjde  vvkti  rj  eTtecfyoDCTKev  ?)  KVpiaKYjy  (pvXaa- 
(TovTGOV  TC0V  (TTpaTiGorwr  ava  6vo  dvo  Kara 
(ppovpav  jJieyaXrf  cpoDvl]  eyevero  ev  T(3  ov- 
pavcS. — {^Gospel  of  Peter ^  by  Adolf  Harnack,  page 
II,  paragraph  35.) 

It  does  not  seem  possible  that  any  intel- 
ligent Christian,  even  a  Sabbatarian,  can 
read  this  passage  in  the  Gospel  of  Peter, 
and  doubt  that  the  Lord's  Day  was  ushered 
in  on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection. 
It  is  not  claimed  that  the  Gospel  of  Peter 
is  inspired,  but  who  doubts  its  truthful- 
ness ?  Cannot  a  man  tell  the  truth  unless 
he  is  inspired? 

Some    have    wondered   why   the    early 

Christians  did  not  speak  of  the  Transfer. 

The  Jews  had  a  bitter  prejudice   against 

Christ  and  his  followers,  whom  they  per- 
194 


SADBA  TARIANISM 

secuted  to  the  death,  as  in  the  case  of 
Stephen,  and  there  was  a  reaction  in  feel- 
ing among  Christians,  who  disliked  any- 
thing that  savored  of  Judaism,  and  they 
naturally  kept  the  two  apparent  Sabbaths 
as  far  apart  in  thought  as  possible.  In 
history  we  have  illustrations  of  similar 
prejudices.  The  Jews  and  Samaritans 
disliked  each  other,  and  had  no  dealings 
in  common.  The  Puritans  who  were  per- 
secuted by  the  Episcopalians  in  England 
instituted  Thanksgiving  and  made  much 
of  its  observance,  minimizing  Christmas, 
so  highly  regarded  and  carefully  observed 
by  the  Episcopalians.  The  Protestants  in 
England  hated  the  Cross,  as  a  symbol  so 
much  used  by  the  Catholics,  and  even 
broke  into  Catholic  churches  to  destroy 
it.  These  prejudices  have  happily  passed 
away,  and  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans 
celebrate  Christmas,  and  make  it  a  joyful 
195 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

time,  and  the  Cross,  that  beautiful  symbol 
of  Christianity,  does  not  look  hateful  any 
longer  to  Protestants.  The  ancient  preju- 
dice between  Jews  and  Christians  has 
largely  passed  away,  and  no  reason  now 
remains  why  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and 
Christian  Sabbath  may  not  be  regarded, 
in  accordance  with  the  teaching  of  the 
New  Testament,  as  the  same  Institution. 

At  first  thought  it  seems  remarkable 
that  the  leading  lexicographers  and  gram- 
marians of  the  world  should  have  fallen 
into  such  an  error  as  to  translate  an  ordi- 
nal adjective  as  a  cardinal.  Still  there  is 
a  Latin  motto,  '^ Errare  hurnanum  est" 
and  even  men  of  the  Bible  have  made  mis- 
takes. Moses  ''  because  they  provoked 
his  spirit  spoke  unadvisedly  with  his  lips." 
Paul  in  his  early  life  ''made  havoc  of  the 
church,"  and  Paul,  at  Antioch,  in  Syria, 

"withstood  Peter  to  the  face,  because  he 
196 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

was  to  be  blamed."  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
intellectually  perhaps  equal  to  any  man 
that  ever  lived,  once  declared  that  an 
achromatic  object-glass  to  the  telescope 
could  never  be  constructed,  but  Dollond 
made  one  soon  afterward.  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  believed  in  the  emission  theory 
of  light,  but  the  wave  theory  Is  now  gen- 
erally accepted.  Comte  declared  that  we 
never  can  know  the  substances  in  the 
stars,  but  the  spectrum  analysis  has  re- 
vealed them.  Dr.  Alexander  Winchell, 
the  contour  of  whose  head  resembled 
Plato's,  once  said  that  a  vibrating  pendu- 
lum could  not  be  constructed  that  would 
show  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its 
axis,  but  he  afterward  confessed  his  mis- 
take. 

Language  is  a  very  complicated  organ- 
ism, built  on  letters  that  have  originated 

among  many  nations.     It  seems  a  marvel 
197 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

that  a  man  can  stand  on  his  feet  and  bal- 
ance himself,  and  even  walk  unconsciously, 
but  a  child  learns  to  do  so  after  consider- 
able practice.  It  is  a  greater  marvel  that 
a  man  can  convey  thoughts  and  feelings 
by  the  sound  of  his  voice  and  by  written 
characters.  When  we  consider  the  modes, 
tenses,  voices,  inflections,  and  idioms  of 
many  languages  originating  in  past  ages, 
some  languages  being  built  on  each  other, 
it  is  a  surprise  that  linguists  have  done  so 
well.  There  is  a  constant  growth  of  lan- 
guage, new  manuscripts  are  discovered, 
the  divine  dispensations  are  unfolding,  and 
the  Universal  Kingdom  as  knowledge  in- 
creases casts  more  light  on  the  sacred 
page.  The  Bible  will,  therefore,  be  better 
understood  and  yield  more  truth  to  men 
from  age  to  age. 

The  Bible  is  a  great  deep,  like  an  ocean 

that  is  shoreless  and  fathomless,  and  men 
198 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

in  this  world  have  only  begun  to  learn  the 
alphabet  of  divine  things.  How  time  and 
space  bring  to  man  by  modern  research 
the  antiquity,  vastness,  labyrinths,  and 
complexity  of  the  material  universe  !  As- 
tronomers claim  that  there  are  a  hundred 
million  suns  in  our  galaxy,  perhaps  a  thou- 
sand million  worlds,  and  the  modern 
telescope  has  revealed  thousands  of  other 
stellar  systems.  It  takes  a  lifetime  for  an 
expert  to  master  one  science  or  language. 
Science  teaches  that  only  the  morning 
shadows  have  fallen  on  the  earth.  As- 
tronomers compute  that  the  sun  can  sup- 
ply the  solar  system  with  light  and  heat 
for  about  ten  million  years,  and  Professor 
Ball,  the  eminent  mathematician,  tells  us 
that  the  matter  of  the  moon  and  earth, 
united  in  the  original  nebula,  has  not  been 
separated  within  a  period  of  fifty  million 

years.     According    to    science  the    earth 
199 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

was  individualized  from  the  original 
nebula  prior  to  this,  during  the  second 
period  of  Creation,  as  recorded  in  Gen.  i  :  7. 
Sir  William  Hamilton  represents  the  uni- 
verse by  a  polygon,  of  an  infinite  number 
of  sides,  and  man  in  this  world  is  repre- 
sented as  working  on  one  of  these  sides. 
Man  in  this  world  is  the  creature  of  a 
moment,  very  limited  in  his  knowledge  of 
the  universe,  and  should,  therefore,  be 
humble  and  teachable. 

Two  facts  are  so  closely  related  to  the 
Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  that  they  may 
properly  be  considered  in  this  connection. 
Some  have  doubted  that  Christ  was  cru- 
cified on  Friday  and  rose  from  the  dead 
on  Sunday  morning.  Still  the  proof  of 
these  two  events  is  explicit  and  conclusive. 
The  crucifixion  of  Christ  on  Friday  is  evi- 
dent on  several  grounds : 
200 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

1.  This  has  been  the  general  belief  of 
mankind  in  all  subsequent  ages. 

2.  This  was  the  belief  of  the  Christian 
Fathers  who  lived  near  those  events.  Justin 
Martyr,  who  lived  at  the  close  of  the  first 
and  the  beginning  of  the  second  century, 
says:  **For  he  was  crucified  on  the  day 
before  that  of  Saturn  "  [Saturday].  \^The 
First  Apology  of  Justin  Martyr ^  chap. 
Ixvii.] 

3.  Mark  (15  :  42)  says  it  was  the  prepa- 
ration (napacFKevrf).  Friday  in  modern 
Greek  is  called  77  nafoao-Kevrf,  the  day  of 
preparation. 

4.  Mark  (15  142)  says  explicitly  it  was 
the  day  before  the  Jewish  Sabbath  (;rpo- 
(Ta^^arov).  That  settles  it  to  all  persons 
who  believe  in  the  New  Testament. 

The  proof  that  the   Resurrection  took 
place  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  is  conclu- 
sive, and  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  : 
201 


,      THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

1.  This  has  been  the  general  view  of 
Christian  nations. 

2.  The  Christian  Fathers  who  lived  near 
this  marvelous  event,  and  had  the  best  op- 
portunity to  gather  up  the  facts,  accepted 
this  view.  Justin,  who  suffered  martyr- 
dom at  Rome,  and  was  called  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, was  born  a  native  of  Samaria  about 
A.D.  loo.  He  says :  "  But  Sunday  is  the 
day  on  which  we  all  hold  common  as- 
sembly, because  it  is  the  first  day  on  which 
God,  having  wrought  a  change  in  the  dark- 
ness and  matter,  made  the  world ;  and  Je- 
sus Christ,  our  Saviour,  on  the  same  day 
rose  from  the  dead."  [  The  First  Apology 
of  Justin  Martyr,  chap.  Ixvii.] 

3.  Mark  (16  19)  says  explicitly  :  "  Now 

when  Jesus  was  risen  early  the  first  day  of 

the  week  "  {oivaGtoLi  dh  npoot  7rpa)rr\  crap^a- 

Tov).     That  settles  it. 

In  the   Roman  Law  a  part  of  the  day 
202 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

was  considered  and  called  a  day,  so  the 
prophecy  that  the  Son  of  man  should  be 
three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of 
the  earth  was  legally  fulfilled.  Christ  lay 
in  Joseph's  tomb  parts  of  three  days. 
There  is  nothing  magical  in  the  exact  num- 
ber of  full  days.  Jesus  lay  in  Joseph's 
tomb  long  enough  to  prove  to  all  the  world 
that  he  was  actually  dead  and  buried — 
that  he  died  for  men.  The  Creator  fin- 
ished the  Old  Creation  before  he  rested  on 
the  seventh  period,  and  Christ  did  not  fin- 
ish his  work  of  redemption  until  he  rose 
from  the  dead  on  the  first  day.  This  is 
evidently  the  significance  of  the  word 
(TaftftaricrfAos  (Heb.  4  :  9). 

At  the  Conference  of  American  Rabbis 
which  met  in  New  Orleans  in  May,  1902, 
there  was  an  intense  interest  manifested 
relative  to  transferring  the  observance  of 

the  Jewish  Sabbath  to  the  first  day  of  the 
203 


THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

week.  It  was  claimed  that  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath is  now  observed  mainly  by  women 
and  children.  A  commission  of  rabbis 
was  appointed  who  will  communicate  with 
Jewish  congregations  throughout  the  coun- 
try to  ascertain  their  sentiments  on  the 
subject,  and  to  report  to  the  Conference 
that  will  meet  again  in  1903.  This  is  not 
a  movement  in  favor  of  Christianity,  but 
a  kind  of  drifting  by  the  current  of  events 
towards  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  on  the  plea  of 
necessity.  Should  this  movement  be  car- 
ried out  it  will  weaken  Sabbatarianism, 
and  any  religious  observance  that  is  not 
founded  on  an  atom  of  divine  authority, 
and  is  contrary  to  the  current  of  human 
events,  must  in  time  be  swept  into  the 
gulf  of  oblivion.  May  the  time  hasten 
when  the  Transferred  Sabbath  shall  dawn 

over  the  whole  world  and  its  blessed  light 
204 


SABBA  TARIANISM 

shine  into  every  home.  Then  will  the 
Christian  world  obey  the  command  of  the 
Risen  Saviour,  who,  as  he  came  forth  from 
the  tomb,  said:  ^'All  hail." 

As  the  Sabbath  divides  time  into  weeks, 
the  word  naturally  grew  and  came  to  mean 
week,  and  the  Hebrew  days  were  consid- 
ered segments  of  the  week,  and  were  simply 
numbered  from  one  to  six,  by  the  ordinal 
adjective.  The  names  of  the  days  of  the 
week  among  the  Jews,  as  found  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  are  as  follows : 


"ini^?  ci-' 

Day  first  (of  the  week). 

^^^  Cl^ 

Day  second  (of  the  week). 

•'ii^^<^  c^^ 

Day  third  (of  the  week). 

^y-'D-i  c^-* 

Day  fourth  (of  the  week). 

''tr^^pn  cv 

Day  fifth  (of  the  week). 

^ts^ti^'n  ci^ 

Day  sixth  (of  the  week). 

nswn  ci^ 

Day  of  the  Sabbath. 

205 

THE  SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

Modern  Greek  Names  for  the  Days  of  the 
Week 

Sunday  is  77  KvpiaKrj  (Lord's  Day). 

Monday  is  rj  devrepa, 

Tuesday  is  rf  rpirtj, 

Wednesday  is  -ff  reraprrf, 

Thursday  is  7/  ne^nrrj, 

Friday  iSrfTtapaaKevrj  (day  of  preparation). 

Saturday  is  rh  aaftftarov- 

Days  of  the  Week  among  the  Romans. 

Dies  Solis  (Sunday). 

Dies  Lunse  (Monday). 

Dies  Martis  (Tuesday). 

Dies  Mercurii  (Wednesday). 

Dies  Jovis  (Thursday). 

Dies  Veneris  (Friday). 

Dies  Saturni    (Saturday). 
206 


SABBA  TARIANISM 


Numeral  Adjectives, 

Cardinal  Adjectives.  Ordinal  Adjectives. 


■ini<  one. 

c::!?^'  two. 

mf^'^t^'  three. 

nv-i-]X  four. 

ntf^pq  five. 

nw  six. 


in^  first  (pti^'N")). 

^W  second. 

^^^^.V  third. 

^r?1  fourth. 

'•i^^-'pq  fifth. 

^ti^'ii^  sixth. 


207 


ADDENDA 

PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES 

TN  publishing  the  Second  Edition  of  The  Sab- 
-*■  bath  Transferred,  it  may  not  be  inappropriate 
to  speak  of  some  personal  experiences  connected 
with  the  First  Edition.  It  is  more  than  ten  years 
since  the  author's  attention  was  called  by  a  visiting 
clergyman  to  the  double  aa^^arGOv  in  Matt. 
28  :  I.  For  several  reasons  it  seemed  natural  to 
ask  the  author  to  explain  why  one  aa^^arGov  in 
the  verse  is  translated  in  the  English  Bible  "  Sab- 
bath," and  the  other  (TajS^dtGDV  is  rendered 
"week."  The  author  had  enjoyed  exceptional 
advantages  for  studying  Greek  under  that  eminent 
philologist,  Prof.  James  R.  Boise.  He  had  also 
lived  in  the  professor's  family  where  the  atmosphere 
seemed  to  have  a  linguistic  flavor.  Professor  Boise 
spoke  German  like  a  native,  and  conversed  with 
his  family  in  German.  While  traveling  in  Germany 
he  was  often  taken  for  a  German  professor.  The 
author  had  also  taught  Greek,  and  had  spent  several 
years  in  training  Normal  Teachers'  Classes  for 
2o3 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES 

Sabbath-school  work.  It  was  a  fair  question  in 
philology,  and  the  author,  who  distrusts  his  own 
knowledge  of  Greek  but  loves  to  read  his  Greek 
Testament  daily,  determined  to  solve  it. 

On  examining  the  passage  he  soon  discovered 
that  a  similar  construction  of  words  touching  the 
Sabbath  occurred  all  through  the  New  Testament, 
in  more  than  half  a  dozen  places,  in  connection 
with  the  Resurrection.  What  struck  him  forcibly 
was  the  apparent  fact  that  this  peculiar  form  of 
words  was  always  connected  with  the  Resurrection. 
The  Holy  Spirit  was  evidently  trying  to  convey 
some  important  truth  not  reflected  in  the  English 
translation.  All  of  this  was  new  to  him,  and  he 
was  greatly  surprised  and  perplexed.  He  seemed 
to  have  entered  on  an  opening  vista  where  the 
lexicons,  grammars,  and  cyclopaedias  gave  a  forced 
meaning,  and  a  light  that  was  dim  and  uncertain. 
It  was  a  theological  terra  incognita.  The  words 
were  susceptible  of  a  plain  and  simple  rendering, 
but  the  linguistic  authorities  would  not  allow  him 
to  give  them  their  natural  meaning.  He  studied 
these  things  carefully  by  day,  and  meditated  on 
them  by  night.  Neighboring  clergymen,  to  whom 
he  applied  for  information,  could  not  render  him 
any  assistance.  Few  clergymen  keep  up  their 
Greek  Testament,  and  fewer  their  Hebrew  Bible. 
Once  the  author  went  into  a  clergyman's  ample 
library,  and  took  down  his  Hebrew  Bible  to  look 
209 


,      THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

at  a  passage,  but  he  found  that  some  wasps  (proba- 
bly thinking  they  would  never  be  disturbed)  had 
made  a  nest  in  the  beveled  edges  of  the  leaves  of 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  which  probably  had  not  been 
opened  for  years.  Clergymen  did  not  seem  to 
take  much  interest  in  the  subject.  One  clergyman 
said  :  "  We  have  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and  it  does 
not  matter  much  how  we  got  it."  He  took  more 
interest  in  the  fact  than  in  the  philosophy  of  the 
fact.  Another  clergyman  was  offered  by  one  of 
his  friends  the  loan  of  the  Monograph,  after  it  was 
published,  but  he  replied  languidly  that  he  "had 
read  one  or  two  books  on  the  Sabbath,  and  would 
r:ot  have  time  to  read  another."  A  copy  of  the 
book  was  offered  to  another  clergyman,  but  he 
declined  it  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not  have 
time  to  read  it;  still  he  had  plenty  of  time  to  write 
books  of  fiction.  If  Christianity  did  not  possess 
supernatural  vitality  it  might  die  in  the  hands  of 
its  unintelligent  friends.  The  author  likes  to  know 
the  facts,  but  he  is  not  satisfied  until  he  knows,  if 
possible,  the  philosophy  of  the  facts. 

As  in  former  cases  of  perplexity,  the  author 
finally  wrote  for  information  to  his  former  professor 
and  friend.  Prof.  James  R.  Boise,  LL.D.,  who 
could  speak  modern  Greek  like  a  native,  but  a 
reply  came  from  his  daughter  that  Doctor  Boise, 
who  had  attained  the  mature  age  of  four  score 
years,  was  too  feeble  to  undertake  the  investiga- 

210 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 

tion.  He  sent  a  message  of  love  to  his  former 
pupil,  and  within  a  short  time  he  was  called  to  his 
great  reward.  Prof.  James  R.  Boise  was  the  best 
Greek  scholar  the  author  ever  knew,  and  his  opinion 
would  have  been  invaluable. 

One  day  as  the  author  was  turning  the  matter 
over  in  his  mind,  there  came  a  flash  of  light,  and 
he  saw  that  the  double  aa/S^aroov  was  simply 
the  divine  recognition  of  the  Transfer  of  the  Sab- 
bath, as  an  Institution,  at  the  Resurrection.  This 
theory  satisfies  all  the  conditions  of  exegesis,  and 
restores  the  passage  to  the  natural  meaning  of  the 
words.  He  called  to  mind  the  incident  related  of 
Archimedes  who,  when  he  discovered  a  method  of 
determining  the  amount  of  alloy  in  King  Hiero's 
crown,  cried  "  Eureka  !  " 

Still  the  author  was  in  trouble  of  mind,  for  all 
lexicons  and  grammars  and  cyclopaedias  were  op- 
posed to  this  supposition,  and  he  has  much  rever- 
cn:e  for  learned  men  and  standard  books.  In 
great  perturbation  of  mind  he  determined  to  probe 
this  difficulty  to  the  bottom,  and,  if  it  were  within 
the  range  of  possibility,  he  would  ascertain  the 
absolute  truth.  What  did  the  inspired  apostles  mean 
in  giving  the  world  so  many  times,  with  slight 
variations  in  grammatical  case,  this  same  form 
of  words  at  the  Resurrection — a  form  that  violates 
the  usus  loquendi  of  the  Greek  language,  or 
teaches  the  Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  ?     There  is 

2H 


THE   SABBA7H  TRANSFERRED 

a  confusion  of  names  :  Jewish  Sabbath,  Christian 
Sabbath,  Sunday  and  the  Lord's  Day,  but  there  is 
only  one  Holy  Day  in  the  Fourth  Commandment. 
A  few  worship  on  Saturday,  but  a  great  many  on 
Sunday.  Some  think  the  Sabbath  commences  on 
Saturday  evening  ;  some  do  not.  Some  say  "  Sun- 
day Schools,"  others  say  "  Sabbath  Schools." 
Some  say  the  Jewish  Sabbath  has  been  abolished, 
and  the  Lord's  Day  has  been  instituted.  Clergy- 
men look  wise  when  they  preach  on  the  subject, 
but  they  cannot  impart  their  wisdom  to  others. 
The  author  listened  to  a  course  of  six  sermons  on 
the  Fourth  Commandment,  prepared  from  tra- 
ditional authorities  on  this  question.  The  preacher 
seemed  to  be  thoroughly  muddled  on  the  subject, 
and  not  understanding  the  Transfer  he  jumped  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  Christian  Sabbath  was 
founded  simply  on  "  custom."  One  of  the  leading 
members  of  that  church  declared  that  those  ser- 
mons were  neither  "  law  nor  Gospel,  not  even  the 
Statutes  of  Kansas."  After  that  unfortunate  series 
of  sermons  the  Sabbath  in  that  town  lost  much  of 
its  authority  and  sanctity,  infidels  offered  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  church,  and  young  men  went  fishing 
on  Sunday,  because  the  preacher  had  said  there 
was  no  Sabbath  of  divine  origin.  When  a  stone  is 
thrown  into  a  lake  the  wavelets  reach  the  farthest 
shore,  so  life  and  death  eternal  hang  on  the  words 
of   the    preacher.      Another   distinguished    divine 

212 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 

claimed  that  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  founded  on 
the  Resurrection  !  Still  this  divine  would  preach 
on  the  Fourth  Commandment  as  if  it  were  of  equal 
authority  with  the  other  Commandments.  The 
author  heard  a  clergyman  preach  on  the  Fourth 
Commandment  who  treated  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
and  Christian  Sabbath  as  separate  institutions. 
During  the  sermon  the  Jewish  Sabbath  suddenly 
disappeared,  and  the  Christian  Sabbath  came  on 
the  scene,  but  the  preacher  did  not  discover  any 
relationship  between  them  ! 

The  author  seemed  to  be  in  a  theological  quag- 
mire with  many  others  who  did  not  even  know  it. 
No  one  was  able  to  extricate  him  from  his  diffi- 
culty. He  felt  like  Jacob,  who  said  :  "  All  these 
things  are  against  me."  How  the  soul  some- 
times hungers  after  truth,  and  can  only  find  husks 
to  eat.  These  difficulties  only  spurred  the  author 
on  to  more  thorough  study.  With  God  there  are 
no  difficulties,  and  an  increase  of  light  always 
makes  things  plainer  to  men.  The  author  believed 
in  the  Transfer,  but  all  the  authorities  were  op- 
posed to  it.  He  began  to  interview  his  linguistic 
friends.  One  professor  of  Greek,  after  examining 
the  passages,  seemed  to  be  very  much  interested  in 
the  matter,  which  was  entirely  new  to  him.  Like 
a  true  scholar,  however,  he  declined  to  give  a  pro- 
fessional opinion  on  a  brief  examination,  but  finally 
said  frankly,  ''  The  doctors  had  better  put  on  their 
213 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

spectacles  again" — a  good  suggestion.  Another 
former  professor  of  Greek  considered  the  second 
(Tafi^atoov  in  Matt.  28  :  i  as  2i  partitive  genitive y 
and  he  said  that  would  disprove  the  Transfer. 
This  alleged  difficulty  delayed  the  author  nearly  a 
year,  for  he  would  not  advocate  any  theory  that 
is  not  in  harmony  with  the  facts  of  philology  and 
history.  This  point  has  since  been  submitted  to 
several  distinguished  professors  of  Greek,  and  as 
they  all  agree  that  as  r)fxepa  is  understood,  as 
indicated  in  the  Greek  Testament,  the  second 
(Ta(3fiarGDV  is  not  a.  partitive  genitive. 

Finally  the  author  ventured  to  prepare  an  article 
on  the  subject,  but  no  Review  would  publish  it,  for 
it  was  contrary  to  the  philological  traditions.  The 
author  then  selected  some  of  the  best-known  Greek 
and  Hebrew  scholars  in  the  Eastern  States,  and 
the  manuscript  was  sent  to  each  of  them,  one  after 
another.  In  this  way,  in  the  course  of  two  years, 
as  the  author  lived  at  San  Diego,  California,  the 
manuscript  traveled  probably  a  dozen  times  across 
the  continent,  until  the  writing  became  almost 
illegible  from  attrition  in  the  mail.  These  corre- 
spondents gave  the  author  a  large  amount  of  infor- 
mation connected  with  the  Sabbath,  for  which  he 
was  thankful,  but  little  of  it  seemed  pertinent  to 
the  subject.  One  letter  from  a  theological  pro- 
fessor spoke  of  the  supposed  Hebrew  analogy  in 
Genesis.  One  professor  of  Greek  said  that  in  the 
214 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 

classics  ezS"  {iJ.i(\)  and  np^ro'^  are  not  inter- 
changeable. One  distinguished  scholar  thought 
the  author  put  too  much  stress  on  the  double 
aajS^aroDV^  and  one  Hebraist  thought  that  the 
author's  translation  of  Matt.  28:1  is  unlawful. 
Some  distinguished  professors  of  Greek  seemed  to 
have  a  very  modest  estimate  of  their  attainments. 
One  professor,  who  teaches  classical  Greek,  dis- 
trusted his  own  knowledge  of  New  Testament 
Greek,  and  felt  that  he  ought  not  to  give  any 
opinion  on  the  subject.  But  all  the  professors  of 
Greek  seemed  to  concede  that  the  new  rendering 
does  not  violate  any  principles  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage. The  lexicons  and  grammars,  however,  do 
not  sanction  the  new  rendering.  All  the  linguists 
seemed  to  be  in  mortal  terror  of  some  supposed 
analogy  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  as  much  afraid  as  if 
it  were  a  live  tarantula  ready  to  jump  and  bite 
them. 

To  accept  a  fact  is  easier  than  to  comprehend 
the  philosophy  of  it.  Thousands  worship  on  the 
Christian  Sabbath  without  having  any  rational 
theory  in  regard  to  its  origin. 

The  author  likes  the  sentiment  expressed  by  the 
Latin  poet:  Felix  qui potuit  rerum  cognoscere  causas. 
It  is  generally  conceded  that  when  the  Sabbath 
question  is  discussed,  on  the  traditional  theories, 
Seventh-day  men  have  the  best  of  the  argument ; 
but  the  Transfer  theory  cuts   up  Sabbatarianism 

215 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

root  and  branch.  But  many  clergymen  do  not 
understand  the  Transfer  theory,  although  multi- 
tudes of  ministers  begin  to  have  a  dawning  convic- 
tion that  it  is  the  true  theory.  The  author  has 
never  learned  that  the  Transfer  theory  is  taught  in 
any  Theological  Seminary.  The  author  never  saw 
the  matter  mentioned  in  his  theological  course. 
He  never  heard  any  clergyman  in  preaching  on  the 
Sabbath  speak  of  the  Transfer  theory. 

As  a  notable  example  of  the  struggles  of  men  to 
solve  the  Sabbath  question,  Rev.  D.  M.  Canright 
may  be  mentioned.  He  is  a  man  of  unusual  ability 
and  excellence,  and  is  very  much  esteemed  by  thou- 
sands. For  years  he  was  a  Seventh-day  man,  but 
was  convinced  at  last  of  his  error.  He  has  suffered 
for  conscience  sake  enough  persecution  to  break 
the  back  of  an  elephant.  He  might  almost  be 
classed  as  a  martyr,  although  he  is  still  living  and 
doing  excellent  service  for  the  Master.  He  has 
debated  the  question  more  than  a  dozen  times,  and 
has  published  a  valuable  book  on  the  subject.  He 
was  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  Seventh-day 
theory  is  wrong,  but  he  had  difficulty  in  seeing  his 
way  clear  to  hold  to  the  Lord's  Day  as  the  Sab- 
bath transferred.  He  believes  that  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath was  nailed  to  the  Cross  of  Christ  (Col.  2  :  14), 
and  regards  the  Lord's  Day  as  a  new  Institution. 
He  considers  the  Jewish  Sabbath  as  destroyed  by 
the  Cross  of  Christ ;  the  author  believes  the  Sab- 
216 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES 

bath  was  deflected  by  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  trans- 
ferred from  Saturday  to  Sunday  at  the  Resurrec- 
tion. 

When  Matt.  28  :  i  and  parallel  passages  are 
translated  in  the  New  Testament  correctly  the  au- 
thor believes  the  true  renderings  will  establish  the 
Transfer  theory  beyond  controversy.  According 
to  this  view  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  founded  on 
the  Fourth  Commandment,  and  the  Lord's  Day, 
the  very  name  of  which  is  a  proof  of  the  Transfer, 
is  only  another  name  for  the  Sabbath.  When  a 
man  passes  through  a  clover  field  in  full  bloom 
some  of  the  fragrance  clings  to  him — his  garments 
smell  of  the  sweetness  of  the  clover.  The  Sab- 
bath in  passing  the  Resurrection  bore  away  some 
of  the  sweetness,  and  was  transferred  to  become 
the  Holy  Day  for  the  whole  world.  To  give  up 
the  Fourth  Commandment,  and  say  it  belonged  to 
Judaism,  seems  like  beginning  to  tear  down  the 
Decalogue — the  very  mount  of  God.  Christ  gath- 
ered up  the  Ten  Commandments  and  reinforced 
them  in  Two  Commandments  (Mark  12  :  28-31). 

At  this  time  the  author  left  California,  under  the 
advice  of  his  physician,  and  moved  to  the  Atlantic 
States,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  his  health.  Here 
he  was  brought  into  personal  contact  with  many 
distinguished  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholars.  The 
atmosphere  in  the  East  is  very  stimulating  to  the 
student,  for  tl^^^^-e  is  plenty  of  intellectual  ozone  in 
217 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

it.  The  freedom  of  a  personal  interview  yields 
more  real  information  than  the  brief  and  often- 
times guarded  words  of  a  correspondence  conducted 
over  considerable  distances.  It  must  also  be  con- 
ceded that  much  thought,  with  shades  of  thought, 
is  conveyed  by  tones  of  voice,  by  looks  and  ges- 
tures and  postures  of  the  body,  in  addition  to  the 
words  that  are  spoken.  It  is  said  that  no  one  really 
understands  all  that  a  book  contains  until  he  knows 
the  author  personally.  In  the  East  the  author  re- 
gained his  health  and  entered  into  a  new  intellec- 
tual life.  He  had  an  opportunity  to  visit  learned 
men  and  consult  them  freely.  He  cannot  express 
the  satisfaction  that  he  felt  in  coming  into  the  pres- 
ence of  men  who  speak  modern  Greek  and  Hebrew. 
Sometimes  in  interviewing  linguists  he  could  not 
remain  seated,  but  would  rise  up  with  expectancy 
and  stand  near  the  professor  who  opened  his  He- 
brew Bible,  or  Greek  Testament,  to  hear  every  word 
he  said.  Frequent  interviews  with  learned  men 
threw  new  light  on  the  subject.  Finally  the  mists 
in  his  mind  began  to  clear  up  so  much  that  he 
prepared  the  manuscript  for  The  Sabbath  Trans- 
ferrgd,  but  no  publisher  would  publish  it,  for  it 
was  not  in  harmony  with  the  lexicons  and  gram- 
mars on  the  subject.  The  manuscript  was  sent 
out  again  and  again  to  publishers,  but  after  a  long 
time  it  would  come  back  with  a  letter  of  "thanks." 
One  publisher  said  it  was  too  *'new"  and  radical, 
9i^ 


PERSONAL   REMimSCENCES 

and  another  publisher  declared  that  it  was  too 
"  old,"  for  the  subject  had  already  been  covered  by 
a  "previous  work."  The  author  has  tried  to  find 
this  "previous  work"  in  vain,  and  he  indulges  the 
belief  that  the  "  previous  work  "  is  a  little  mythical. 
Publishers  as  a  rule  have  only  one  interest  in  a 
book  to  be  published,  and  that  is  measured  by  its 
commercial  value.  Publishers  do  not  carry  the 
moral  and  religious  burdens  of  the  world  on  their 
shoulders.  If  they  see  money  in  it,  they  will  pub- 
lish a  work.  But  they  have  an  ingenious  way  of 
letting  an  author  down  softly  and  politely.  They 
take  the  manuscript  and  submit  it  to  alleged 
"  outside  readers."  Some  think  these  "  outside 
readers  "  may  be  outside  the  office,  but  perhaps 
inside  the  publishing-house.  Authors  sometimes 
wonder  how  the  manuscript  can  come  back  to 
them  with  the  pages  arranged  in  the  same  order  as 
the  author  sent  them  out  (circumstantial  evidence 
that  the  package  was  never  opened),  but  publishing 
books  is  a  deft  business.  An  author  does  not 
know  the  readers  of  his  manuscript,  and  has  no 
opportunity  to  discuss  the  subject,  which  may 
be  entirely  new  to  the  reader  and  the  world.  A 
young  author  who  is  without  reputation  or  influ- 
ential friends  deserves  pity,  both  human  and  divine. 
Disappointed  authors  are  sometimes  comforted 
when  they  remember  that  Paradise  Lost  was 
hawked  about  the  streets  of  London  and  sold  for 
219 


.      THE  SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

a  mere  pittance,  and  the  publication  of  Uncle 
Tom* 5  Cabin  it  was  declared  would  be  the  financial 
ruin  of  any  publisher.  When  a  meritorious  author 
sees  his  manuscript  rejected  by  an  unwise  publisher, 
and  some  light,  fictitious,  ephemeral  book  that  con- 
tains three  bushels  of  chaff  and  three  grains  of 
wheat,  a  literary  May-fly  that  scarcely  opens  its 
eyes  on  the  world,  and  only  lives  a  brief  time,  his 
feelings  are  more  easily  imagined  than  described. 
Still  it  may  be  of  value  for  an  author  to  wait  a  long 
time  and  "  chew  his  cud  "  while  others  step  into 
the  publication  pool  before  him.  Time  brings 
clearer  and  larger  views,  greater  assurance,  and 
more  philosophical  conclusions.  As  a  foggy  morn- 
ing and  a  misty  forenoon  sometimes  pass  into  a  clear 
sunny  afternoon,  so  the  author  began  to  see  gradu- 
ally the  sunlight  of  truth  break  through  the  clouds. 
He  was  slowly,  but  surely,  obtaining  the  "  courage 
of  his  convictions." 

While  living  near  Boston  the  author  had  the 
great  pleasure  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  Dr. 
F.  N.  Peloubet,  who  writes  such  valuable  Notes  on 
the  International  Sabbath-school  Lessons.  Dr. 
Peloubet  very  kindly  listened  to  the  reading  of  the 
manuscript,  and  wrote  an  Introduction  to  the 
Monograph,  declining  to  receive  any  compensation 
for  it.  He  did  not  agree  with  the  author  in  his  in- 
terpretation of  one  prophecy,  but  he  held  the 
theory  of  the  Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  firmly,  and 
220 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES 

said  the  Monograph  contained  enough  proof  to 
show  plainly  that  the  Transfer  is  the  correct 
theory.  Dr.  Peloubet  was  inclined  to  consider 
favorably  the  author's  translation  of  ezS"  p.iay 
(Ta^fiaroDv^  but,  as  he  had  not  given  the  mat- 
ter special  attention,  he  did  not  desire,  as  he  says 
in  his  Introduction,  to  commit  himself  to  it.  There 
is  a  delightful  religious  and  scholarly  atmosphere 
about  Dr.  Peloubet's  ample  library  where  he 
studies,  but  his  Notes  may  be  called  practical  and 
useful  rather  than  critical.  After  using  his  Notes 
several  years  in  Sabbath-school  work,  the  author 
prefers  them  to  any  other  notes  published.  They 
are  just  what  Sabbath-school  teachers  need.  As 
the  Introduction  was  written  for  the  first  edition, 
Dr.  Peloubet  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  the 
sixth  chapter  in  the  second  edition  of  The  Sabbath 
Transferred, 

The  author  had  made  considerable  progress  in 
his  undertaking,  still  the  manuscript  was  declined 
by  the  publishers.  One  publisher  treated  the 
author  rudely.  The  establishment  was  entered 
very  meekly,  and  while  the  author  waited  a  long 
time  outside  of  the  railing,  there  seemed  to  be  a 
flutter  among  the  young  ladies  in  the  office,  as  if  a 
hornet's  nest  had  been  discovered.  Still  the  author 
was  not  looking  for  a  tornado.  At  last  the  pub- 
lisher came  out  of  his  inner  office  like  a  surly  bear, 
and  passing  by  the  author,  gave  him  a  savage  look. 

221 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

Probably  he  was  sizing  him  up  to  see  if  it  were 
prudent  to  assault  him.  Then  the  publisher  turned 
back,  and  coming  near  the  author  to  the  inside  of 
the  railing,  where  he  would  te  protected  by  the 
railing,  and  bristling  up  like  a  hedgehog,  com- 
menced a  tirade  at  him,  shouting  in  a  loud,  harsh, 
angry  voice  :  "  Who  are  you  ?  What  is  your  name  ? 
Where  did  you  come  from  ?  What  is  your  busi- 
ness ?  What  do  you  want  to  see  me  for  ?  I  am 
very  busy."  Yet  this  brutal  man  publishes  relig- 
ious books  for  Sabbath-schools.  The  author  in- 
voluntarily asked  himself  how  many  such  men  it 
would  take  to  convert  the  world.  All  the  other 
publishers  treated  the  author  kindly,  although 
some  of  them  did  not  show  much  knowledge  or  in- 
terest in  the  Sabbath. 

When  at  last  the  Monograph  was  published  it 
was  received  with  great  favor  by  leading  divines  as 
an  original  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  Sab- 
bath question.  The  author,  it  was  admitted,  had 
cut  a  new  path  through  the  tangled  theological 
forest  and  given  the  world  the  true  theory  of  a 
Holy  Day  that  would  bless  mankind  until  the 
Sabbath  of  Creation  and  Sinai  melts  into  the  eter- 
nal Sabbath.  Some  books  are  milestones  along  the 
pathway  of  theological  thought,  which  indicate  the 
progress  of  mankind  in  the  knowledge  of  divine 
things.  Some  wondered  why  the  Transfer  had 
been  held  by  a  few  learned  and  distinguished  men 

222 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 

for  ages;  still,  the  subject  had  never  been  put  into 
popular  garb  for  the  masses.  Some  said  "  the 
book  reads  like  a  psalm,"  and  others  affirmed  that 
it  **  clarified  "  the  whole  subject.  So  many  troubled 
Christians  all  over  the  country  read  the  book,  and 
wrote  to  the  author  that  it  had  helped  them  in 
clearing  up  the  Sabbath  difficulties,  that  it  touched 
his  heart.  Sabbatarians  naturally  pounced  upon 
the  Monograph,  and  a  gentleman  from  Battle 
Creek  wrote  that  no  book-store  in  that  place  dare 
handle  the  book  for  fear  of  a  "  boycott."  Battle 
Creek  is  a  nice  town,  but  there  are  other  towns  in 
the  world.  Mahomet  spread  his  religion  with  fire 
and  sword,  but  God  says  :  "  Come  now,  and  let  us 
reason  together"  (Is.  i  :  i8).  Any  theology  that 
will  not  bear  the  light  of  free  and  full  investigation 
must  lack  the  essential  elements  of  truth.  Religion 
should  not  be  based  on  human  authority,  but  on 
divine  truth.  One  journal  spoke  of  "miscalling 
the  Sabbath,"  implying  that  the  institution  should 
be  called  the  Lord's  Day,  and  regarded  it  "lost 
labor  to  maintain  propositions  about  the  origin  and 
transfer  of  the  Sabbath,  which  cannot  stand  a 
moment  in  the  light  of  evolutionary  and  philologi- 
cal facts."  In  reply  it  may  be  said  that  if  the  Sab- 
bath were  transferred  it  would  naturally  retain  its 
Old-Testament  name  as  given  in  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment. Does  a  man  change  his  name  when  he 
goes  from  one  country  to  another  ?  Why  should  an 
223 


THE   SABBATH   TRANSFERRED 

institution  change  its  name  when  it  is  transferred, 
unless  the  name  is  changed  by  divine  authority  ? 
In  this  consists  the  force  of  the  argument  of  the 
Monograph  :  that  the  Old-Testament  Sabbath  is 
passed  over,  with  some  modifications  of  its  charac- 
ter, into  the  Christian  Dispensation.  The  term 
Lord's  Day  is  only  another  name  for  the  Institu- 
tion, but  it  proves  the  Transfer.  This  fact  is 
clearly  stated  in  the  Monograph  (page  49).  The 
name  Sabbath  is  still  given  to  the  Institution  in  the 
New  Testament  after  the  Resurrection  {^The  Sab- 
bath  Jransferredj  pages  44,  45,  46).  The  Ten  Com- 
mandments were  given  for  all  time  and  all  dispen- 
sations, for  Christ  gathers  them  all  up  in  two 
commandments — love  to  God  and  love  to  man  ;  and 
the  Fourth  Commandment  does  not  form  an  excep- 
tion. As  The  Sabbath  Transferred  is  the  only 
book  ever  published  that  considers  the  Sabbath 
under  the  laws  of  Evolution,  the  criticism  in  regard 
to  ''  evolutionary  facts  "  is  amusing.  Some  editors 
prate  about  Evolution  who  never  collected  a  geo- 
logical specimen  in  their  lives.  Such  shallow  criti- 
cisms remind  one  of  an  incident  :  A  man  walking 
along  saw  a  dog  beside  the  road  rolling  over,  and 
told  his  companion  that  was  an  evolutionary  dog. 
When  asked  to  explain  he  said  :  "  Evolution  means 
V3  roll  over,  and  as  the  dog  rolled  over  he  must  be 
an  evolutionary  dog  "  The  philological  criticism 
is  fully  answered  in  Chapter  VI,  and  it  is  hoped 
224 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES 

the    above-mentioned    editor    will    enjoy    reading 
it. 

The  author  found  that  the  real  difficulty  was 
some  alleged  analogy  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  some 
philological  tarantula  that  they  feared  would  jump 
and  bite  them.  The  author  has  had  some  experi- 
ence with  tarantulas  in  Texas  and  Arizona.  If  a 
tarantula  is  touched  with  a  stick  it  will  jump  like  a 
fiend  at  the  one  who  touches  it,  but  if  it  falls  short 
it  drops  on  the  ground,  and  something  like  some 
Sabbatarians  who  become  angry  when  they  are 
beaten  in  an  argument,  the  tarantula  becomes  so 
mad  that  it  is  perfectly  helpless.  In  jumping  its 
legs  whip  the  air,  and  then  the  tarantula  lies  as  if  it 
were  dead,  with  its  legs  all  twisted  up.  It  illustrates 
the  saying  :  "Dying with  rage."  The  author  tried 
to  engage  some  expert  linguist  to  find  this  tarantula 
so  he  could  kill  it,  but  the  philologists  all  begged 
off.  Some  were  tired,  some  were  in  poor  health, 
some  rushed  with  work,  and  some  going  to  Europe. 
Some  were  so  modest  that  they  did  not  feel  like 
expressing  an  opinion  opposed  to  distinguished 
men  who  had  gone  before  them.  What  should  we 
think  of  a  general  who  declined  to  storm  a  fort 
falling  back  on  his  limitations  of  military  knowl- 
edge, or  on  the  fact  that  some  other  distinguished 
general  had  failed  to  take  it  ?  At  last  the  author 
spent  a  summer  in  the  great  libraries  of  New  York 
in  doing  this  critical  work,  but  only  found  a  mis- 
225 


'       THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

translation  in  the  Septuagint — a  ghost  of  a  taran- 
tula that  can  neither  jump  nor  bite.  //  is  perfectly 
harmless.  Still  Sabbatarians,  when  all  their  other 
arguments  have  failed,  have  walked  around  it  with 
a  mysterious  air,  and  talked  as  if  there  was  enough 
dynamite  in  that  false  translation  to  blow  the 
Christian  Sabbath  into  smithereens.  This  subject 
is  treated  at  length  in  the  sixth  chapter,  and  the 
author  hopes  linguists  will  take  note  of  it. 

There  is  a  parallel  to  this  case  in  geographical 
exploration  in  South  America.  Many  people  have 
believed  that  a  race  of  cannibals  live  on  the  Beni 
River,  so  that  for  more  than  three  centuries  no  one 
had  ventured  down  the  river.  The  author  has  a 
courageous  friend  who  determined  to  explore  the 
river  and  ascertain  the  real  facts  in  the  case.  For 
a  long  time  he  could  find  no  one  who  dared  to 
accompany  him.  At  last  one  Indian  who  did  not 
value  his  life  was  persuaded  to  go  with  him  in  a 
canoe.  Many  came  to  the  river-bank  to  bid  them 
farewell,  never  expecting  to  see  them  again.  Some 
shed  tears  of  anguish  at  the  thought  of  their  being 
eaten  up.  The  explorer  and  his  companion  Indian, 
however,  made  a  safe  trip,  and  found  no  cannibals. 
Even  the  animals  that  roam  the  forest,  never  before 
having  seen  a  man,  were  so  tame  and  came  so  near 
the  men  that  they  could  almost  touch  them  with 
their  outstretched  hands. 

The  author  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  great 
226 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES 

satisfaction  at  the  labors  of  the  American  Revision 
Committee,  and  hopes  that  after  the  excellent  re- 
sults which  they  have  already  obtained  in  prepar- 
ing the  Standard  Revision  of  the  Bible,  they  will 
work  along  the  line  of  passages  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment speaking  of  the  Sabbath  in  connection  with 
the  Resurrection,  and  give  the  world  the  fruits  of 
their  studies.  In  the  twentieth  century  the  Chris- 
tian world  is  waiting  impatiently  to  know  the  abso- 
lute truth  in  connection  with  the  Revelation  of 
the  Divine  Will.  It  is  evident  that  the  belief  in  the 
Transfer  of  the  Sabbath,  in  spite  of  false  transla- 
tions, theological  conservatism,  and  bigotry,  is 
growing  in  the  Christian  Church.  This  is  the  only 
logical  theory  for  those  who  accept  the  Lord's 
Day.  The  Transfer  is  philosophical  and  scrip- 
tural, and  meets  all  the  demands  of  the  case.  As 
scientists  say,  "  it  answers  the  full  description." 
The  author  can  say  that  the  mists  are  all  gone 
from  his  mind,  and  his  soul  is  full  of  joy.  After 
many  years  of  doubts,  and  fears,  and  struggles,  with 
some  uncertainty,  the  author  can  now  perceive  the 
Transfer  of  the  Sabbath,  at  the  Resurrection,  as 
plainly  as  he  can  see  the  sun  shining  in  a  clear  sky. 
Since  his  first  discovery  of  the  Transfer,  he  has 
always  believed  that  this  was  the  truth,  but  for 
many  years  he  could  not  demonstrate  it,  for  he  had 
not  reached  the  bottom  facts.  The  belief  in  the 
Transfer  will  undoubtedly  become  universal  in  the 
227 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED 

Christian  Church.  The  time  will  undoubtedly 
come  when  students  of  history  will  recall  Sabba- 
tarianism as  one  of  those  dead  theories  that  hin- 
dered for  a  time  the  progress  of  Christian  truth. 
It  will  help  fill  the  scrap-box  of  dead  theologies. 

Candor  compels  the  author  to  admit  that  when 
the  First  Edition  of  The  Sabbath  Transferred  was 
published  he  had  not  fully  investigated  the  under- 
lying question  of  philology.  Still  he  has  probably 
read  the  First  Edition  through,  since  it  was  pub- 
lished a  hundred  times,  and  does  not  find  a  word 
to  be  changed.  When  we  remember  that  the  lead- 
ing lexicographers  and  grammarians  of  the  world 
have  perpetuated  the  mistranslation  in  the  Septua- 
gint,  and  treated  it  as  an  exception,  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years,  is  it  any  surprise  that  the  author, 
who  only  claims  to  be  a  student  in  philology  un- 
fettered by  the  traditions  of  the  past,  should  fail  to 
find  it  ?  Still  he  wants  to  know  the  absolute  truth 
of  God,  and  searches  for  it  diligently  without  fear 
or  favor,  for  the  truth  never  hurts  anybody.  Some- 
times we  see  indications  of  the  truth  before  we 
actually  come  into  possession  of  it.  Long  before 
the  traveler  reaches  the  sea,  the  roar  of  the  break- 
ers is  in  his  ears,  and  he  perceives  moisture  in  the 
air.  As  a  practical  miner,  who  believes  from  the 
formation  of  the  rocks  that  there  is  a  gold-bearing 
stratum  at  a  certain  locality  before  he  has  dug 
down  to  it,  so  the  author  thoroughly  believed  in 

22^ 


PERSONAL    REMfNISCENCES 

the  Transfer,  for  what  other  position  can  a  logical 
man  take  who  accepts  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  under  their  respective 
economies,  as  the  Sabbath  of  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment ?  Still  he  was  feeling  his  way  along 
through  the  tangles  of  lexicons,  grammars,  and 
cyclopaedias,  and  candidly  says  {^The  Sabbath 
Transferred^  pp.  57,  58,  59,)  that  he  walked  as  a 
philosopher  and  not  as  a  philologist.  Now  he  has 
dug  down  through  the  overlying  errors  of  the  past, 
and  laid  bare  the  gold — the  absolute  truth  in  regard 
to  the  Holy  Sabbath — and  can  walk  both  as  a 
philosopher  and  as  a  philologist. 

Logically  Sabbatarianism  is  dead,  but  few  Sab- 
batarians have  discovered  the  fact.  Sometimes 
lightning  will  strike  a  tree,  and  shiver  it  to  the 
very  roots.  So  the  flash  of  God's  truth  has  at 
last  shivered  the  heresy  of  Sabbatarianism,  and 
knocked  the  very  roots  out  of  the  ground;  still  the 
roots  may  sprout.  It  is  said  of  a  certain  kind  of 
snake,  that  after  the  head  is  cut  off,  the  tail  will 
wriggle  until  sundown;  so  ii  is  with  some  heresies. 
Heresies  sometimes  seem  to  be  vitalized  by  an  evil 
spirit,  but  God's  truth  will  ultimately  prevail,  cor- 
rect and  vitalize  all  belief. 

Sometimes  when  one  stands  on  a  high  mountain 

after  a  shower,  as  the  sun  breaks  out  from  behind 

the   clouds,  he  can   see  the   ends   of  the  rainbow 

unite  to  form  a  complete  circle,  and  so,  if  a  man 

229 


THE   SABBATH  TRANSFERRED] 

climbs  up  high  enough  on  the  mountains  of  God's 
truth,  and  stands  on  Mount  Calvary,  and  sweeps 
his  eye  over  the  divine  economies,  he  can  discern 
the  two  apparent  Sabbaths — the  arch  under  the 
Old  Covenant  and  the  arch  under  the  New  Covenant 
— become  arcs  of  the  same  circle,  and  if  he  have 
enlightened,  spiritual  vision,  he  will  see  them  unite 
in  one  circle  on  the  morn  of  the  Resurrection  to 
form  one  and  the  same  Institution,  and  this  is  the 
bow  of  promise  of  God's  covenant,  when  God's 
word  shall  not  return  unto  him  void,  and  "  the 
mountains  and  hills  shall  break  forth  before  you 
with  singing,"  and  "  all  the  trees  of  the  field  shall 
clap  their  hands." 

A  few  days  before  Bishop  W.  X.  Ninde,  D.D. 
LL.D.,  of  blessed  memory,  was  called  home  from 
his  earthly  labors,  he  sent  the  author  the  following 
testimonial  : 

"I  have  just  read  your  valuable  Monograph  on 
The  Sabbath  Transferred  with  keen  interest  and 
profit.  I  am  greatly  impressed  with  your  line  of 
thought.  The  treatment  is  novel,  and  your  con- 
nected argument  grows  upon  the  reader  in  its  con- 
vincing effect.  I  trust  the  book  may  be  widely 
circulated." 

Recently  the  author  received  the  following  testi- 
monial from  Prof.  Milton  S.  Terry,  D.D.,  LL.D.: 

"  Your  treatise  is  very  readable,  and  it  breathes 
230 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 

the  true  spirit  in  every  page.  .  .  .  Your  remark  on 
page  41,  that  the  Sabbath  of  creation  began  at  even, 
but  the  Christian  Sabbath  very  early  in  the  morning, 
is  richly  suggestive." 

231 


INDEX  AND  ANALYSIS 

Chapter  I 
The  Sabbath  a  Movable  Institution 

God  may  be  worshiped  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  21. 

Finite  man  needs  special  times  for  rest  and  worship,  21. 

Difference  between  secular  and  holy  time,  22. 

The  Sabbath  can  be  placed  on  and  taken  off  from  a  secular 
day,  23. 

The  Sabbath,  a  Divine  Institution,  part  of  the  Moral  Law,  23. 

The  Sabbath,  as  an  Institution,  may  be  transferred  from  one 
secular  day  to  another,  23. 

The  Sabbath  not  identical  with  Saturday,  24. 

Division  of  the  week,  in  reference  to  holy  and  secular  time,  25. 

The  Sabbath  cannot  be  abolished  except  by  divine  authority,  26. 

Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  preserves  the  integrity  of  the  Institu- 
tion, 26. 

Cartographical  illustration  of  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath,  y^r- 
ing  27. 

Secular  days  fixed  as  names  of  time  for  astronomical  move- 
ments, 27. 

The  day  considered  as  a  unit  of  time,  27. 

The  week  as  related  to  the  unit  of  time,  28. 

Blessing  the  seventh  day  equivalent  to  blessing  the  Sabbath,  28. 

The  Sabbath  not  needed  to  make  the  secular  week  complete,  29. 

The  Sabbath  instituted  at  the  end  of  creation  to  meet  the  neces- 
sities of  man,  30. 

233 


INDEX  AND    ANALYSIS 

The  Sabbath  has  two  hmitations,  31. 

The  original  Sabbath  gave  man  every  evidence  of  the  divine 

attributes,  32. 
The  septenary  order  of  the  Sabbath  founded  in  the  constitution 

of  man,  n. 
Other  time  Institutions,  33. 
The  Moral  Law  has  never  been  abolished,  34. 
Relation  of  Judaism  to  Christianity,  35. 
Only  one  sun  in  the  solar  system,  35. 
Only  one  Sabbath  in  the  Moral  Law,  35. 
The  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  makes  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and 

Christian  Sabbath  identical^  36. 


Chapter  II 

Evidence  from  the  New  Testament  of  the  Transfer 
of  the  Sabbath 

Examination  of  passages  of  Scripture : 

Mat.  28:  I,  37. 

Mark  16 :  I-2,  41. 

Luke  23:55  seq.y  43. 

John  20  :  I  ;  20  :  19,  44. 

Acts  13  :  42  seq.y  45. 

Acts  20  :  7,  47. 

I  Cor.  16:2,  47. 

Col.  2:16,  48. 

Rev.  I  :  10,  49. 
Human  opinions  change  slowly,  49. 
Excellency  of  King  James*  Translation,  50. 
New  Versions  will  be  needed,  5 1 . 
Revelation  yields  men  more  truth  from  age  to  age,  51. 
234 


INDEX  AND    ANALYSIS 

Qiristians  beginning  to  accept  the  Transfer,  53. 

Different  views  held  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath,  54. 

Significance  of  the  double  <TafiPaT<av  occurring  in  connection  with 

the  Resurrection,  57. 
The  Sabbath  transferred  from  Saturday  to  Sunday,  57. 
Belief  in  transfer  not  hedged  up  by  Philology,  58. 
Sometimes  Christians  must  walk  as  philosophers,  58. 
Only  one  deer  in  the  park,  59. 


Chapter  III 

Prophecies  Foreshadowing  the  Transfer  of  the 
Sabbath 

Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  a  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  60. 

Isaiah  predicts  the  transfer,  60. 

Important  changes  take  place  at  the  Resurrection,  61. 

Geological  history  a  periodical  unfolding  from  rudimentary  to 

higher  forms  of  Ufe,  63. 
Transition  from  Jewish  to  Christian  economy  dynamic,  63. 
Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  reasonable,  64. 
Testimony  of  Philip  Schaff,  the  Church  Historian,  65. 
The  Psalmist  prophecies  the  transfer,  66. 
The  Risen  Lord  recognizes  the  transfer,  68. 
No  Christian  can  observe  the  Sabbath  on  the  seventh  day  with 

joy,  69. 
The  Sabbath  the  same  Institution  under  all  covenants,  70. 
The  Sabbath  more  glorious  under  the  New  Covenant,  71. 
The   Sabbath   the   same    Institution    observed    by   Patriarchs, 

Prophets  and  Disciples,  72. 
This  River  of  God  flows  with  increasing  volume  and  power,  75. 

235 


INDEX  AND   ANALYSIS 

Chapter  IV 

Practice  of  Early  Christians 

The  Transferred  Sabbath  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the  crowning 

miracle  of  the  Resurrection,  76. 
Why  Christ  did  not  speak  of  the  transfer,  79. 
The  example  of  inspired  men  conclusive  evidence,  79. 
Peaceful  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  face  of  Jewish  preju- 
dices, 80. 
Testimony  of  Philip  Schaff,  81. 

Christ  meets  with  his  disciples  on  the  Lord' s  Day,  83. 
Paul  observes  the  Transferred  Sabbath  at  Troas,  84. 
Testimony  of  the  Christian  Fathers  : 

Justin  Martyr,  85. 

Barnabas,  88. 

**  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,"  88. 

Tertullian,  88. 

Dionysius,  88. 

Irenseus,  89. 

Clement,  of  Alexandria,  91. 

Origen,  92. 

Anatolius,  92. 

Eusebius,  93. 

Petavius,  94. 
Sunday  legislation  by  Constantine,  96. 
Significance  of  o-a^/Sario-jiAos,  97. 
Pentecost  the  divine  seal  of  the  transfer,  97, 
Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  Lord' s  Day  evidence  of 

the  divine  approval,  98. 
God  is  a  jealous  God  and  will  not  give  his  honor  to  another,  99. 
The  heavenly  dew  falls  on  worshiping  assemblies  on  the  Lord's 

Day  for  twenty  centuries,  100. 
236 


INDEX  AND   ANALYSIS 

Chapter  V 

The  Transferred  or  Christian  Sabbath 

Transfer  of  the  Sabbath  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  evolu- 
tion, 1 01. 

Evolution  the  general  law  of  development,  loi. 

The  Nebular  Hypothesis  of  La  Place,  102. 

The  law  of  progress  apparent  in  Revelation,  105. 

Economies  of  grace  progressive,  109. 

The  Sabbath  naturally  affected  by  the  law  of  evolution,  1 10. 

Sabbath  flexible  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  historical  develop- 
ment, III. 

Christ  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  Day,  112. 

Rigor  of  Sabbath  observance  disappears  under  the  New  Cove- 
nant, 112. 

Micrological  casuistry  of  the  Jews,  1 13. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  115. 

The  Sabbath  of  Paris  and  continental  Europe,  1 16. 

The  Transferred  Sabbath  a  day  of  religious  liberty,  Il6. 

Manner  of  observing  the  Christian  Sabbath,  1 16. 

The  Transferred  Sabbath  partakes  of  the  spirit  of  the  New 
Covenant,  122. 

Nature  the  Universal  Temple  of  Worship,  128. 

All  religious  observances  appropriate  for  the  Sabbath  Day,  130. 

Children  should  be  instructed  in  divine  things  on  the  Sab- 
bath, 133. 

Blessings  of  Sabbath- schools,  137. 

Works  of  Necessity  and  Works  of  Mercy,  138. 

The  day  for  Holy  Convocations,  140. 

Rewards  for  keeping  the  Sabbath,  14 1. 

The  New  Heavens  and  the  New  Earth,  143. 

The  Transferred  Sabbath  is  the  River  of  God,  144. 

237 


INDEX  AND  ANALYSIS 

Chapter  VI 

Sabbatarianism  Founded  on  a  False  Translation, 

Author's  deliberation  before  adopting  rendering,  146. 

Transfer  of  Sabbath  firmly  established,  147. 

Distinguished  scholars  believe  in  the  Transfer,  147. 

Transfer  mentioned  in  New  Testament  many  times,  148. 

Secular  days  time-measures  for  revolution  of  earth,  149. 

The  Sabbath  an  Institution,  150. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  150. 

Sabbath  different  from  secular  day  on  which  it  is  observed,  151. 

A  planet  moves  in  its  orbit,  151. 

The  Sabbath  is  transferred  ivoxa.  one  day  to  another,  151,  152. 

Proofs  of  Transfer  from  many  sources,  152. 

Author  makes  special  study  of  question,  153. 

Wliat  are  the  bottom  facts  ?    154. 

View  of  Sabbatarians  given  in  their  own  language,  154,  155, 

The  phrase  eis  fxlav  (rajS/Sdrwi'  decisive,  156. 

Translation  of  Matt.  28  :  i  based  on  a  false  analogy,  157. 

Critical  examination  of  Gen.  1:5,  158  seq. 

Testimony  of  Dr.  G.  W.  Clark,  the  Commentator,  164. 

False  translation  in  the  Septuagint,  168. 

Dr.  A.  H.  Lewis  calls  a  mistranslation  a  beautiful  ''Hebrew 

idiom,"  168. 
Testimonials  from  eminent  Hebrew  scholars,  169  seq. 
The  Greeks  did  not  derive  days  of  week  from  the  Hebrews, 

173  seq. 
Little  resemblance  between  the  names  of  days  of  week  in  Greek 

and  Hebrew  languages,  174. 
The  Greeks  used  tt/swtoj  to  designate  the  first  day  of  the  week, 

175- 

238 


INDEX  AND  ANALYSIS 

The  Sabbath  Recorder  misrepresents  the  facts,  173. 

The  French  lexicographers,  176. 

Sabbatarianism  as  a  system  of  belief  powdered,  177. 

While  Dr.  A.  H.  Lewis  eats  "humble  pie  "  he  better  have  a 
full  meal,  177. 

Sabbatarians  cannot  be  held  guiltless  for  violating  the  Lord's 
Day,  177,  178. 

Lexicographers,  grammarians,  encyclopaedists,  and  revi- 
sionists/^r/zV^/j  cri77tinis^  178,   179. 

Battle  Creek  Sabbatarians  lively  on  the  Lord's  Day,  180. 

The  Upas  tree  of  Sabbath  interpretation,  180,  181. 

While  oil  is  poured  into  a  lamp  it  continues  to  bum,  181. 

Sabbatarian  itinerants,  182. 

Pastors  not  versed  in  Transfer  remain  silent,  182. 

Philological  traditions  held  fast  and  Satan  well  pleased,  182. 

Chief  support  of  Sabbatarianism  removed,  183. 

When  arguments  are  answered  bigots  retain  a  scoffing  spirit, 

185. 
Delusion  fools  fiercest  and  most  foolish  of  all  fools,  185. 
Heresies  resemble  icebergs,  185,  186. 
All  icebergs  will  finally  melt,  186. 
Many  Sabbatarians  are  sincere,  186. 
Attitude  of  Christians  towards  Sabbatarians,  188. 
Judicial  spirit  of  First  Edition,  188. 
Doctors  put  on  a  blister  to  save  life,  189. 
Sabbatarian  heresy  needs  a  blister  all  over,  189. 
Canada  thistles  can  be  killed  only  in  one  way,  189. 
Heresy  sometimes  can  only  be  obliterated  by  preventing  new 

converts  being  made,  190. 
New  rendering  restores  natural  meaning  to  New  Testament, 

191,  192. 
The  true  rendering  of  Matt.  28  :  i  illuminates  the  subject,  192. 
Passage  in  Gospel  of  Peter,  192  seq. 

239 


INDEX  AND  ANALYSIS 

The  Lord's  Day  dawned  at  the  Resurrection,  194. 

Why  early  Christians  did  not  speak  of  Transfer,  194,  195, 

Puritans  and  Episcopalians,  195. 

Protestants  and  Catholics,  195. 

Many  men  have  made  mistakes,  197. 

Language  a  complicated  organism,  197. 

Day  of  week  on  which  Christ  was  crucified,  201. 

Day  of  week  of  Christ's  Resurrection,  202. 

Names  of  days  of  week  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  205  seq. 

Numeral  adjectives  in  Hebrew,  207. 


Addenda. 

Personal  Reminiscences. 

Attention  called  to  the  subject  by  visiting  clergyman,  208. 

Personal  fitness  for  the  investigation,  208. 

Surprise  at  linguistic  construction,  209. 

A  theological  terra  incognita^  209. 

Soliciting  help  from  neighboring  clergymen  in  vain,  209. 

Wasp's  nest  in  clergyman's  Hebrew  Bible,  209. 

Clergymen    generally   not   interested    in  philosophical   ques. 

tions,  2IO. 
Apathy  of  clergymen  in  regard  to  question,  210. 
Prof.  James  R.  Boise  consulted,  210. 
Age  and  ill  health  prevent  examination,  210. 
Wonderful  discovery  of  Transfer,  211. 

Lexicons,  grammars,  and  cyclopaedias  opposed  to  Transfer,  21 1. 
Confusion  of  Christians  regarding  Holy  Day,  212. 
Series  of  sermons  found  Lord's  Day  on  "custom,"  212. 
Most  Christians  in  theological  quagmire,  213. 
Author  spurred  on  to  more  diligent  study,  213. 
Interviews  with  linguistic  friends,  214. 
240 


INDEX  AND  ANALYSIS 

Long  correspondence  with  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholars,  214. 

Objections  offered   to    Transfer,  214. 

Reviewers  reject  article  on  Transfer,  214. 

Linguistic  traditions  must  be  preserved,  214. 

Greek  professors  concede  that  new  rendering  does  not  violate 

principles  of  Greek  language,  215. 
Struggles  and  persecution  of  Rev.  D.  M.  Canright,  216. 
Cross  deflects  rather  than  destroys  the  Sabbath,  216. 
Fourth  Commandment  obligatory  under  all  dispensations,  217. 
Matthew  28  :  i  and  parallel  passages  of  Scripture  decisive,  217. 
The  Sabbath  partakes  of  the  sweetness  of  the  Resurrection, 

217. 
Author  leaves  California  for  his  health,  217. 
Makes  a  new  home  in  Atlantic  States,  217. 
Advantage  of  personal  interviews  over  correspondence,  218. 
Visits  learned  men  and  solicits  opinions,  218. 
Manuscript  of  The  Sabbath  Transferred  ■prt'pz.xed,  218. 
Publishers  reject  manuscript,  218. 
Residence  of  the  author  near  the  great  libraries,  153. 
Publishers  submit  manuscripts  to  outside  readers,  219. 
Ephemeral  works  have  precedence,  220. 
Profitable  for  authors  to  *'  chew  the  cud,"  220. 
Dr.  F.  N.  Peloubet  writes  the  Introduction,  220. 
Manuscript  still  rejected,  220. 
Rude  treatment  of  author  by  publisher,  221. 
The  published  Monograph  received  with  favor,  222. 
Book  considered  a  contribution  to  subject,  222. 
Critics  of  book  answered,  223. 
Sabbatarians  pounce  upon  the  book,  223. 
Book  threatened  with  boycott  at  Battle  Creek,  223. 
Sabbath  Evolution,  224. 
The  Evolutionary  Dog,  224. 
Linguistic  tarantula  frightens  linguists,  225. 

241 


INDEX  AND  ANALYSIS 

Modesty  of  distinguished  linguists,  225. 
Author  spent  one  summer  hunting  tarantula,  225. 
False  translation  in  Septuagint — ghost  of  tarantula,  226w 
Parallel  instance  in  exploration,  226. 
Excellent  work  of  American  Revision  Committee,  227. 
All  mists  dissipated  from  author's  mind,  227. 
Theory  of  Transfer  gaining  ground,  227. 
Transfer  shines  like  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  227. 
Testimonial  of  Bishop  W.  X.  Ninde,  228. 
Testimonial  of  Prof.  Milton  S.  Terry,  228. 
242 


PRESS  NOTICES  AND  TESTIMONIALS. 


Fr<nn  FRANK  H.  SNOW,  LL.D.,  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Kansas. 

I  have  received  your  very  attractive  little  monogiaph  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  have  read  it  with  great  interest.  Your  argument  in  support  of  the 
theory  of  the  transfer  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  from  Saturday  to  Sunday,  on 
the  morning  of  the  Resurrection,  seems  to  me  sound  and  convincing.  The 
book  will  undoubtedly  find  a  cordial  welcome  throughout  the  coimtry. 

From  Rev.  F.  E.  ST  URGES,  D.  D.,  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church, 
Natick,  Mass. 
It  is  gotten  up  in  a  lovely  way.  The  printing  is  fine,  and  the  contents 
exceedingly  valuable.  The  style  is  firm,  and  the  development  logical. 
The  argument  is  conclusive.  I  congratulate  you  on  true  success.  May  it 
conquer  the  strongholds  of  the  foolish  opposition. 

From  JOHN  H.  VINCENT,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. 
I  have  long  been  familiar  with  the  theory  advanced  and  defended  in  your 
little  volume  on  The  Sabbath  Transferred.  *  *  *  *  i  am  in  sympathy 
with  anything  that  appropriately  belittles  the  absurd  idea  that  it  makes 
the  slightest  difference  as  to  which  twenty-four  hours  a  man  worships  God. 

From  Rev.  HENRY  HOPKINS,  D.  D.,  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church, 
Kansas  City.  Mo. 
Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  technical  exegetical  contention  of  the 
book,  no  one  can  candidly  read  it  without  being  deeply  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  there  is  a  divine  sanction  for  our  Christian  Rest  Day,  and  a  sacred 
obligation  for  its  permanent  religious  observance. 

From  Rev.  DONALD  DUNCAN  MUNRO,  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church, 
East  Orange,  N.  J. 

Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  your  monograph  on  the  Transferred  Sab- 
bath which  I  have  just  finished  reading  the  second  time.  I  was  so  much 
pleased  and  impressed  with  its  timeliness  and  strength  of  argument  and 
exegetical  accuracy  that  I  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  my  gratitude 
to  you  for  this  labor  of  love. 

In  our  day  when  so  many  good  Christians  are  observing  this  day,  be- 


2  'PRESS  NOTICES  AND  TESTIMONIALS. 

cause  it  is  a  fixed  custom  merely,  instead  of  acting  from  principle,  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly invigorating  and  refreshing  to  find  a  work  like  yours  upon  the 
Sabbath  question — a  work  which  shows  clearly  and  convincingly  the  "Trans- 
ferred Day,"  as  the  "Lord's  Day,"  and  emphasizes  its  importance  in  the 
"Mind  of  the  Master,"  and  its  large  place  in  Holy  Writ;  and  demonstrates 
that  its  observance  should  be  a  matter  of  conviction  instead  of  convenience. 
Your  book  gives  evidence  of  careful  and  extensive  study  on  your  part; 
notwithstanding  this  fact,  it  is  very  compact,  and  splendidly  arranged. 
You  have  done  a  great  service  to  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  Nation, 
both  of  which  will  disintegrate  if  this  important  subject  be  ignored. 

Fro7n  C.  C.  McCABE,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 
I  have  read  The  Sabbath  Transferred  and  like  it  much.     I  accept  the 
doctrine  and  consider  your  argument  unanswerable. 

From  Ex-Gov.  JOHN  W.  HOYT,  LL.  D.,  Chairman  Committee  National 
University. 
The  Sabbath  Transferred  came  to  hand  yesterday  and  has  been  read 
at  two  sittings  on  this  Lord's  Day  with  deep  interest.  Thoughtful,  learned, 
eloquent  and  convincing  is  the  verdict  of  all  my  family.  It  beautifully 
and  completely  clarifies  a  subject  heretofore  but  partially  understood  by 
either  the  Christian  or  non-Christian  world,  and  cannot  fail  of  a  cordial 
welcome  in  all  the  churches. 

From  RICHARD  CORDLEY ,  D.  D.,  Forty  years  Pastor  First  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Lawrence,  Kansas,  and  generally  known  as  the  "Nug- 
get Preacher.' 
Your  book  is  a  model  for  compactness  and  perspicuity,  and  your  inves- 
tigation evinces  painstaking  fidelity.     The  view  you  take  of  the  Sabbath 
Transferred  is  in  accord  with  what  I  have  always  held,  but  you  have 
sustained  it  with  an  array  of  facts  beyond  what  I  thought  possible.     I  have 
examined  your  scriptural  argument  with  my  Theile  in  my  hand,  and  find 
all  your  points  well  taken. 

From  A.  D.  MADEIRA,  D.  D.,  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Inde- 
pendence. Mo. 
Your  argument  for  the  Transferred  Sabbath  is  not  only  convincing 
but  conclusive.  Not  a  new  Sabbath,  but  a  new  day  for  its  sacred  observ- 
ance. That  our  Lord  rested  in  the  sepulchre  upon  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
Day  was  not  an  accident,  but  a  Divine  appointment,  by  which  the  Sab- 
bath Day  of  the  Law  was  fulfilled.  It  was  as  surely  and  as  purposely  ful- 
filled as  the  Jewish  Passover  feast  was  fulfilled  in  our  Lord's  sacrifice  upon 
the  cross.    And  just  as  the  Supper  took  the  place  of  the  Passover  feast  so 


PRESS  NOTICES  AND  TESTIMONIALS.  3 

did  the  Gospel  Sabbath  take  the  place  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  It  would 
be  as  scripturally  illogical  to  continue  the  sacrifice  of  the  Passover  lamb  as 
to  continue  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  Your  argument  dem- 
onstrates this  beyond  a  cavil  or  a  doubt. 

From  F.  N.  PELOUBET,  D.  D.,  Author  of  ''Notes  on  International  Les- 
sons." 
The  true  settlement  of  the  (Sabbath)  question  ia  that  established  in  this 
volume. 

From  Rev.  J.  C.  SMITH,  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Port  Tovmsend, 
Wash. 
I  find  the  book  very  satisfactory,  and  have  reason  to  believe  that  you 
have  the  right  conception  of  the  change. 

From  the  Rev.  GEORGE  W.  CLARK,  D.  D.,  Author  of  ''Harmony  of  the 
Gospels  in  English,"  "People's  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament." 
I  have  greatly  enjoyed  the  reading  of  your  monograph  on  The  Sabbath 
Transferred.  The  views  you  present,  and  your  various  lines  of  argument 
commend  themselves  to  the  good  judgment  of  your  readers.  The  treat- 
ment of  Matt.  28  .  1,  "In  the  end  of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn  to- 
ward the  first  day  of  the  week,"  a  passage  of  great  difficulty  to  interpreters, 
is  skillful,  and  worthy  of  the  favorable  attention  of  scholars.  I  shall  take 
great  pleasure  in  commending  it  to  pastors,  Sunday  School  students  and 
workers,  as  a  work  fitted  to  do  good  in  strengthening  the  hold  and  promot- 
ing the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  as  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

From  THE  METHODIST  BOOK  AND  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  Toronto, 
Canada. 
Dr.  Parker  is  an  accomplished  scholar. 

From  THE  FLORIDA  CHRISTIAN  ADVOCATE. 

Those  who  are  troubled  on  this  subject  will  find  valuable  light  in  this 
book. 

From  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TIMES,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Dr.  Parker  begins  right  by  asserting  that  the  Sabbath  is  a  movable  In- 
stitution. He  gathers  from  prophecy  the  foreshadowings  of  its  transfer  to 
the  day  of  the  Resurrection,  and  from  the  early  records  of  the  church,  the 
evidence  that  they  regarded  that  transfer  as  made  in  fact.  And  all  this 
he  brings  into  vital  relation  with  the  general  shift  from  Old  to  New  Testa- 
ment ways.  The  book  concludes  with  a  practical  study  of  the  Sabbath  in 
its  relations  to  right  living,  as  the  day  of  the  Resurrection.  The  author 
dwells  especially  on  its  family  use. 


4  PRESS  NOTICES  AND  TESTIMONIALS. 

From  THE  BALTIMORE  METHODIST. 

Dr.  Parker  has  compressed  the  whole  matter  into  a  small  volume  which 
will  sell  at  $1.50.  He  has  found  indisputable  proof  in  the  New  Testament 
that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and  Christian  Sabbath  are  identical. 

From  THE  BAPTIST  COMMONWEALTH,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

This  brief  discussion  of  a  very  important  subject  is  very  comprehensive. 
The  Greek  phrases  are  explained,  and  with  the  Cartographical  Illustrations, 
make  very  plain  to  the  discerning  and  intelligent  reader  that  the  transfer 
of  the  Sabbath,  or  the  choosing  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Sabbath 
Day  was  an  actual  fact.  It  is  a  clear  answer  to  Seventh  Day  people,  and 
they  ought  to  read  it.  It  is  a  beautifully  printed  book,  and  the  Index  and 
Analysis  at  the  close  adds  to  its  value. 

From  THE  CHRISTIAN  HERALD,  Detroit,  Mich. 

This  is  a  fresh  and  original  contribution  to  the  Sabbath  question. 

From  THE  NEWARK  EVENING  NEWS. 

He  marshals  the  arguments,  Scriptural  and  theological,  with  a  very  ade- 
quate grasp  of  his  interesting  subject. 

From  THE  PITTSBURG  CHRISTIAN  ADVOCATE. 

His  handling  of  the  theme  is  direct  and  logical,  and  hia  reasoning  is  clear. 

From  THE  FREE  BAPTIST,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

The  work  is  original,  and  its  claims  worth  careful  study. 

From  THE  WATCHMAN,  Boston. 

The  discussion  is  intelligent,  persuasive,  and  presented  in  an  interesting 
form. 

From  THE  CENTRAL  BAPTIST,  St.  Louit,  Mo. 

The  author  has  studied  the  subject  ten  years,  and  has  •ubmitted  his  ren- 
derings of  special  Greek  terms  to  eminent  scholars. 


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